


The Keeper of the Forest

by JadeElements



Category: Gravity Falls, billdip - Fandom
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Older Dipper Pines, Older Pines Twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-05-29 01:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 67,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6352681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeElements/pseuds/JadeElements
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every being has a soulmate. Even all powerful Demons like one said Bill Cipher. He's told that his soulmate will be the keeper of the forest but he certainly wasn't expecting it to be who it is. But just as he's found his soulmate, something starts happening to the forest and it's up to them to fix it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To the Falls

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’ve had this idea mulling around in my head for some time. I finally decided to try to write it out. A soulmate AU. Weirdmaggeddon hasn't happened in this timeline. Older Pines twins. They're 23. Bill and Dipper have a weird frienemy thing going on. Mabel teases him about it sometimes. I might add Mabifica to the story. Not sure yet. Also, rating might go up.
> 
> *NOTE*: For this soulmate AU, a certain series of events has to happen first before two people know they're soulmates. It feels like a jolt rolling through them. So even if they already know each other, they still might not know they're soulmates until the events happen. Fate is a bitch in this AU.

 

 

 

**Chapter 1**

 

Darkness. Void. Floating. Dipper felt nothing and everything at the same time. A sound akin to a heartbeat reverberated through the emptiness, shaking him down to his bones. He opened his eyes and all he could see was black. A vision appeared before him, fading into his vision like water spreading across a paper. It was the forest of Gravity Falls. The very forest that had caused him to open his eyes to the untold secrets of the world. He felt a pull from it that he hadn’t felt before.

“Pine child…it is time…” A disembodied voice floated through his conscious. The forest was calling to him. “It’s TIME.” As the voice spoke this time, the forest lit up in red. The void shook and dark tendrils shot out from the forest towards him, grabbing him and pulling him in. He yelled in horror.

Dipper shot up in bed, his eyes wide and trying to catch his breath. He held a shaky hand to his chest, clutching his shirt. A sheen of sweat had formed on his brow.

“What…what was that…” he whispered in shock. It’s not like Dipper hadn’t dreamt about the forest of Gravity Falls before. In fact, he dreamt of it quite often. But he’d never had a dream that felt like that had. The forest had never called to him before. “What could it mean?”

There was a soft knock on his door. A second later, Mabel walked in while rubbing her eye. She’d never actually waited for an invitation. “You ok Bro Bro? I heard you yell.”

He glanced at his twin and a small, fond smile adorned his face. Her concern for him always calmed him down. “I just…I had this really weird dream. Like, the forest from Gravity Falls was calling for me. Weird right?”

“Oh. Well you probably just miss the forest and your big brain is making it weird for you,” Mabel shrugged.

“You’re probably right. I shouldn’t think too much about it. I’m ok. You can go back to bed.” Dipper nodded and smiled at Mabel.

“Alright Dipdop. Go to sleep. We’ve got a long drive to Gravity Falls tomorrow to do.” She saluted him and left the room, quietly shutting the door.

Dipper flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. The vision of the forest flashed through his memories. The dream had to mean something. It had to. He let his thoughts wander until he drifted back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next morning, Dipper woke up to Waddles being dropped unceremoniously on him. He startled awake, making an umph sound as the air was knocked out of him.

“MABEL! What the hell?!”

“Wakey wakey Dippin’ Sauce! It’s time for our totally awesome twin trip to Gravity Falls. You can’t sleep the day away!” She grinned brightly at him.

“I hate you sometimes.” Dipper glared at her.

“Psshh…you know you love me all the time.”

“It’s too early for this,” Dipper grumbled. He shoved Waddles off of him and got up. The stretch that ensued shortly afterwards made several of his bones in his back pop.

“It’s never too early for adventure!” Mabel threw her arms out in exuberance. “Now get dressed! I’ll be downstairs!” She skipped out of the room with Waddles in tow.

If she wasn’t his twin, he would really question whether or not they were related. Dipper drug a hand down his face and went to gather up some clean clothes for a shower. He was still groggy when he entered the bathroom. After shutting the door and setting his clothes on the counter, he looked up at his reflection in the mirror. Dipper’s eyes widened in shock at what he saw. It looked like his forehead was glowing behind his hair. That couldn’t be right. Foreheads didn’t glow! He quickly shoved his bangs aside and stared at his birthmark. Each star point on the constellation birthmark was glowing brightly and the lines connecting them had a softer glow to them. Dipper panicked and his pulse quickened. First the dream and now this? Just what the hell was going on? He dropped his bangs and closed his eyes trying to catch his breath. Ok…so his forehead was glowing. Not the strangest thing that’s happened to him. He could deal with this. He took a calming breath and decided to get his shower over with.

After bathing, he walked downstairs to find Mabel in the kitchen, setting plates and happily humming the tune of some popular pop song he hated listening to.

“It’s about time! I was about to go drag you down here!” She stood there with her hands on her hips, looking like a mother scolding her awry child.

He would call her on that, but she was actually freakishly strong for someone her size and despite the fact that Dipper was not longer a scrawny beanpole, he knew very well that she could drag him down the stairs if she very well wanted to.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dipper waved her off as he entered the kitchen. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, trying to decide whether or not he should mention his forehead. He watched her flit around the kitchen as she finished preparing the table the rest of the way. Dipper figured that he should because well, it was Mabel and they tell each other everything. He walked over to the counter near her and leaned against it, crossing his arms. “Hey, um…can you look at my forehead?”

Mabel cocked her head to the side and looked at him like he’d grown a third head. “Why do you need me to look at your forehead?” She gasped. “Did you start growing a unicorn horn! That would be awesome!”

Dipper’s eye twitched. “No I did not start growing a unicorn horn! Will you just come here and look at it?”

She walked over to him and pushed his bangs up so she could see. “I don’t see anything except your birthmark on your big dumb forehead. Why am I looking again?”

“It looks normal to you? It’s not glowing?”

“Why would it be glowing? Dipper, are you feeling ok?”

Dipper’s eyebrows drew together in frustration. Ok. So his sister couldn’t see the mark glowing. So that probably meant nobody else could. Damn, this was all confusing to him. “It’s uh…nothing…I just thought it was glowing this morning. I guess I was still half asleep.”

Mabel gave him a concerned look. She knew he wasn’t telling her the complete truth but she also knew when he wasn’t going to open up any further. “If you say so…”

“I do.” Dipper shook his head to clear his thoughts and went to the table to sit down before turning to his sister again. “So what’s for breakfast? Smells pretty good in here.”

“I made muffins!” Mabel went and pulled them out of the oven, presenting them to Dipper.

“I’m not imagining those sparkle am I?”

“Nope! Blueberry muffins with patented Mabel flair!”

Dipper groaned. “I better not end up sick.”

Mabel threw a muffin at Dippers head. “You speak blasphemy Bro Bro!”

Dipper just laughed and picked up the muffin that had fallen in his lap after Mabel had thrown it at him. He took a bite and grinned at her.

Breakfast passed by quickly and soon the twins found themselves on the road, heading towards Gravity Falls. Mabel was driving, as per usual. It’s wasn’t that Dipper couldn’t drive. He just didn’t care much for driving long trips. Mabel was playing the same song she’d been humming in the kitchen that morning.

“Ugh…do we have to listen to this song?” Dipper felt like banging his head on the window.

“Driver picks the music. Passenger shuts up.”

“You’ve been watching Supernatural again, haven’t you?”

“Don’t judge me! You know Sam and Dean are totally hot.”

Dipper didn’t disagree, but he wasn’t going to give her the pleasure of knowing she was right so he kept quiet. He enjoyed the show too but it’d lost some of its appeal when he found real supernatural creatures.

They’d been driving all day and now they were nearing the area of Gravity Falls. Dipper started feeling that pull again. He idly wondered if he’d fallen asleep again but he was certain he hadn’t. A soft mummer of a noise skittered through his mind as they got closer. It got louder as they drew nearer and nearer. The noise began to sound like a voice saying “it’s time” softly, over and over again. Dipper was feeling apprehensive and he shook his head hoping that’d get rid of it somehow. He was definitely going to have to talk to Ford about this. The noise got louder and louder until they pulled up to the shack where it abruptly stopped. Dipper looked around, confused beyond all reason. Why would it stop right when they got to the shack? He figured that perhaps it had something to do with Ford’s magical barriers. They did seem to keep a lot of things out. He stepped out of the car and turned to wait on his sister.

“Whelp…ready to get this summer started?” She smiled brightly at him as she got out of the car.

Dipper smiled back. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

He could deal with weird magical things later.

 

* * *

 

 

*Many, many centuries ago.*

Bill Cipher floated aimlessly around the prophet he’d cornered. She’d sought him out for some unfathomable reason that he couldn’t comprehend.

“So…Paraphet…I’m gonna call you Par. Don’t like it? I don’t really CARE.” He laughed as he circled her. “You came marching into my domain claiming you have a message for me. I mean, it was really stupid of you to do that. I don’t care much for messengers. Normally, you’d be DEAD. But I’m feeling gracious today, so out with it!”

“You have to know why I’m here, Cipher.” She sat calmly in the circle of blue flames he had concocted around her to keep her in place.

“Oh ho ho…missy, I’m the last person you want to try to play mind games with. Trust me on that.” Bill’s body flashed red for a split second.

“I’m well aware of your providence of the mind. I came here to inform you of your soul-mate.”

At this, Bill burst out in a mocking laughter. “Oh, that’s rich. I don’t have a soulmate. Why would I, an all powerful DEMON need a soulmate?”

“Everyone has one, Cipher. Yours just hasn’t come around yet.”

Bill rolled his eye. “Look, I don’t have any intention of ever seeking out my supposed soulmate. The notion is simply ridiculous and you’re wasting my time. So you have 3 seconds to say what you came to say or I’m going to nix your existence.”

“Very well. Your soulmate is going to be the keeper of the forest. You know which one I speak of. There hasn’t been one there for some time. But they will show up. Sometime in the twenty first century if my visions are correct. I suggest you keep close to the place.”

Bill narrowed his eye. “That’s not much to go by.”

“It’s all that was shown in my vision. Now if I may, can I go?” She stood up within the circle.

Bill begrudgingly waved his hand and the flames dispersed. “Yeah, yeah. Get out of here before I change my mind.” He glared at her for good measure.

“Farewell, Bill Cipher. I hope you find what you seek soon.” With this she started walking away.

He watched her leave the mindscape and he frowned. The thing is, Bill actually cared immensely about his soulmate. He wanted to destroy them for leaving him alone for so long. Rip their very soul from their body and torture them for eternity for making him wait on them. An eternity alone could get to even an all powerful demon like himself. The demon couldn’t understand why everyone else he knew had had their soulmate already. Most didn’t even have to wait a century. Yet here he was, thousands of millennia old and still alone.

“You better be something really special…” Bill whispered angrily as he look down through the dreamscape at Gravity Falls.


	2. It's Time

**Chapter 2**

 

After getting settled in, the twins had joined Grunkle Stan for dinner. Ford had already eaten and escaped down to his lab after he’d given the twins a brief greeting. Dinner was a simple meal of macaroni and cheese given that the twins had arrived later in the evening.

“So kids; how’s college treating ya?” Stan looked up from his dish at the two expectantly.

“College is great! There are so many cute boys there! I hope I meet my soulmate there. That would be so cool! And the fashion industry is totally going to be taken by storm when I come out with my line of matching owner and dog sweaters!” Mabel grinned from ear to ear.

Stan stared at her a little perturbed. “Owner and dog…you know what? I’m not even gonna ask. I will say this though. Don’t be so hasty to meet your soulmate. It’s not what you should be focused on. Focus on your career. As odd as that career is. You can never have too much money.”

“Ugh…blah blah…I know Grunkle Stan. I just think it’d be cool is all.” She crossed her arms and pouted.

“What about you Dipper?” Stan’s attention was now focused on Dipper.

“Me? Oh…just you know…hitting the books. I study a lot. Copious amount of coffee is consumed. The usual.”

“Right. Well keep at that…what was it you studied again?” Stan scratched his chin as he asked before taking a bite of his dinner.

“Oh, Criminology. That’s my major at least. My minor is in paranormal studies. I guess I just can’t stay away from that stuff.” Dipper laughed a little nervously.

“Hmm…well just don’t go getting yourself killed. I’d hate to have to deal with your sister’s waterworks.”

“I won’t Grunkle Stan.” He knew that was Stan’s way of saying he cared. The man never was good with emotions. Dipper took the last few bites of his food and let out a sigh of content. His belly was full now and it was making him drowsy. “Whelp…I’m gonna hit the hay. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” He got up and put his plate in the sink.

“Night Broseph!” Mabel grinned at him. He got a grunt from Stan.

Dipper left the kitchen and made his way up the stairs to his room. As he shut the door behind him, the world had faded to grey. He was too tired to notice until he turned around and was met face to face with none other than Bill Cipher.

“HIYA PINE TREE!!”

“GYAAH!” Dipper jumped and flailed his arms a bit. Then he glared at the Demon floating in the middle of his room. “What the hell Bill?!”

Bill laughed and his eye crinkled up in what could be taken as amusement. It was hard to tell when he only had the one eye. “You’re always so fun to rile up! It’s so easy too!”

Dipper glared at him and walked past him to sit on his bed. “So, what do you want this time Bill? A body? A sacrifice? World domination?” He gave Bill a wry grin.

“You mock me Pine Tree.” He floated closer to Dipper until he was inches from his face and stared at him, his sclera going black. “Need I remind you that that is not a good idea?”

Dipper stared at him, unimpressed. He felt a twinge of nervousness in the back of his mind. Despite the fact that he’d had some sort of weird hate friendship with Bill for the past five years, he was still a little uneasy around him. He was a demon after all and you can’t just trust them all that easily. Granted, Bill hadn’t tried to hurt him or his family in any way over those years so he felt a little more at ease than his anxiety would normally allow. “I’m gonna go with no. I want to sleep, Bill. What do you want?”

“Why do you always assume I want something?” Dipper gave him a flat look. “Ok, ok. Fair point. But really, this time I just wanted to say hi! You didn’t come back last summer. It was boring because I didn’t have anyone to drive insane!”

“God forbid you not have someone to torture, Bill.” Dipper rolled his eyes. “What chaos have you caused in my wake since I wasn’t here to stop you?”

“Oh ho ho ho. You think you are really capable of stopping me? That’s cute Pine Tree!~ I let you stop me.”

Dipper quirked a brow, a smug smile adorning his face. “So does that mean you actually care what I think Bill? That’s so touching.” Dipper put a hand on his chest and faked looking touched.

Bill’s eye widened in panic. “What?! No! That’s not what I meant! I just let you win to lure you into a false state of relaxation!”

“If you say so...” Dipper’s tone was disbelieving.

“You damned human! I hope you have horrid nightmares about being eviscerated!” With that, Bill blinked out of existence and the color returned to the room. Dipper laughed and smiled smugly again. Sometimes it was too easy to get a rise out of Bill. He briefly wondered if he should be concerned about his mental health seeing as he got so much enjoyment out of pissing off Bill. Shrugging, he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the mindscape Bill was fuming. He flared red and the mindscape shook around him. “Damn it! That little bratty meatsack tricked me into getting what he wanted! How the fuck did that even happen!” Bill threw his hat in frustration. Another one popped into existence above his head. “Oh I’ll get you back for that Pine Tree.”

 

* * *

 

Dipper woke up for the second day in a row with a jolt. He’d another creepy dream about the forest. Rubbing his face, he sat up and groaned. He had to get a grip on this situation. Standing up and stretching, he walked over to his dresser to pull out his clothes for the day. “Eh…a shower can wait until later.” He threw on his clothes and headed downstairs. As he walked, he remembered his encounter with Bill last night and snorted with laughter. He probably shouldn’t screw with Bill like he does but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Something about Bill just made him want to test the limits, as stupid as that was to do with an all knowing dream demon.

“What’s so funny Bro Bro?” Mabel had heard him laughing as he had reached the doorway.

“Oh, nothing really. Just Bill.”

His sister gave him a concerned look. She’d noticed that over the years, Bill and Dipper had become sort of comfortable around each other. Normally, Dipper’s anxiety wouldn’t allow him to be calm when faced with something like Bill, but it was eerily missing whenever they encountered each other. It was unsettling and worrisome to her. She wasn’t so sure that Dipper should be so friendly with Bill. After all, he had caused them a lot of trouble and trauma in their first summer here and subsequently, several of the summers after that. But despite that fact, Dipper had found some sort of weird frienemyship with Bill. She’d noticed that after that happened, Bill stopped causing them grief. Well, he still messed with Dipper from time to time, but it was nothing like before. Now it just seemed like they enjoyed annoying the hell out of each other. She’d even made the joke once that Bill was Dipper’s demon boyfriend. Dipper had told her to shut up and that that was ridiculous. As if he’d ever consider Bill that way. She was glad Bill wasn’t trying to cause insurmountable amounts of chaos anymore, but that didn’t mean the situation was any less weird.

“You know, I still can’t wrap my head around how chummy you two are.”

“Psh…we’re not chummy. We have a mutual dislike of each other that we utilize to poke fun at each other.” Dipper shrugged.

“Right…call it what you want Dipdop.”

Dipper rolled his eyes and sighed. “Have you seen Grunkle Ford? He wasn’t at dinner last night. I need to talk to him.”

Mabel gave a look.

“Right…his lab. Duh. Where else would he be? I don’t know why I asked.” He turned to head towards the soda machine.

“Wait! Aren’t you going to eat breakfast? Grunkle Stan is making Stancakes!”

Dipper cringed. “Nope! I’m good for now. I’ll eat after I talk to Ford.”

Mabel shrugged. “Suit yourself. More Mabel’s patented syrup for me!”

Dipper smiled and shook his head. His sister’s jovial attitude would never cease to amaze him. He reached the soda machine and punched in the code. The machine creaked as it moved to the side revealing the stairs down to Ford’s lab. As he descended the stairs, he couldn’t help but recall the dream. There was just something about them that kept niggling at his thoughts. They had to mean something. He reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around the room, spotting Ford sitting at his desk, writing something in a notebook. A strange contraption was sitting on the desk next to him.

“Hey Grunkle Ford.”

Ford looked up and saw Dipper. He immediately perked up. “Dipper! My boy! Just in time! Come help me test this!” Ford got up and walked over to Dipper, handing him the device.

Dipper fumbled with it before getting a solid grip. “Wha…huh? Uh..ok?” He followed Ford into the bigger section of his lab that had once contained the portal. “What exactly are we testing?” He felt a little uneasy at not knowing.

“It’s a gravity gun!”

“A what now?”

“A gravity gun! All you have to do is point it at an object and fire. The object will start floating. It alters the object’s magnetic reaction to the gravity field. There’s also a setting that will allow you to bring the objects to you and also to push them away. I thought it might be useful against some of the bigger more unruly beasts in the forest.”

At the mention of the forest, Dipper’s thoughts were brought back to his dreams. “Speaking of the forest…I’ve uh…had some odd dreams about it the last two nights. That’s actually what I came down her to talk to you about.”

Ford gave him a contemplative look. “What kind of dreams?”

“Well, the first one was yesterday. You know, before we came here. It felt like…like the forest was calling to me. Like there was some sort of pull. And a weird creepy voice kept saying ‘It’s time’ over and over. And then the forest went red and these black hands extended and grabbed at me. That’s when I woke up. I thought it was some sort of fluke maybe. Mabel suggested I was just missing the forest. But it felt like more than that. And then, on the way here, I felt that pull while I was awake. As we got closer to the forest, I kept hearing that voice again. But it stopped as soon as we parked at the shack. And last night…well that one was a bit more fuzzy to remember but I was in the forest…and I was glowing? I think? Anyway, it’s just plain weird and I can’t figure it out and I feel like it has to mean something so I was wondering what you think?”

Ford listened to Dipper’s explanation with growing concern. “Dipper, you know as well as I do that this is in no way a normal forest. If you feel like the forest is calling to you, it probably is. I’m not sure why it seems hostile, given your dreams. But I do think it is reaching out to you. I have no clue why but we’ll figure it out. We always do. Us Pines are survivors. As to why it stopped when you reach the shack? That’s probably because my magical barriers blocked it. They’re meant to keep everything magical out.”

“Yeah, I figured that would be why. It’s just…why after all this time is it calling to me? What is even going on?”

Ford stared at him, a calculating expression place upon his face. “I’m going out on a limb here and saying that you’re connected to the forest somehow. I don’t know how or why or how much, but it’s connected with you. That’s probably why you hear it and no one else does.”

“I’m…connected to the forest?” Dipper looked down at his hands and thought about what that could mean. “Oh! There was one more thing. My forehead has been glowing on and off since yesterday. Well, to be more specific, my birthmark has. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but nobody else can see it apparently.  I asked Mabel to look at it the morning after I noticed it and she didn’t see anything. But I know I’m not imagining it.”

“Your birthmark is glowing? That’s highly unusual. I’ll have to do some research on that. And also on the forest calling to people. I really think you’re right about the dreams meaning something. Maybe the forest needs your help? I’ll hit the books and let you know if I find anything. We can test the gravity gun later. I think this is more important.”

Dipper nodded and handed the gun back to Ford. “Right. Well, I’m gonna go eat breakfast. You should eat too.”

Ford smiled at his great nephew. “I’ll eat in a bit.”

“Alright.” Dipper smiled and walked back up the stairs and then into the kitchen. Mabel and Grunkle Stan were already seated at the table. He took a seat opposite his sister and dug into the plate she’d graciously left for him. “Thanks Mabel.”

“No problem, brother of mine!” She wolfed down the rest of her food. “So what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Well, it’s Sunday, so the shack is closed. Nothing I guess. You kids can do whatever the hell you feel like. Just don’t break anything. I’ll be watching T.V.” With that, Stan got up and put his dish in the sink before walking out of the room. A moment later, the twins heard the soft murmur of the T.V. playing.

“I’m going to go visit Candy and Grenda. They’ve been texting me all morning about meeting up at the mall. You gonna be alright by yourself Broseph?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’m going to take a walk through the forest. I have missed it after all.”

Mabel smiled at him. “Just be careful ok? Remember the year before last, you pissed off that chimera and came back bloodied. Let’s not have a repeat of that.”

“I promise to be careful and to not get maimed, seriously injured, or killed. Happy now?” He looked at her expectantly.

“Yep! Now I’m off to the mall!” Mabel jumped up out of her chair, put her dishes away and then skipped out of the kitchen. He turned his attention back to his food and finished eating. Ugh, they were both gone so that means he was on dish duty. Grumbling, he got up and put his plate in the sink. While he was washing dishes, he heard Mabel go out the front door while yelling that she’d be back later. He smiled and shook his head. Dipper was happy she’d made friends here.

After finishing the dishes, he went up to his room to pack a backpack for his trek into the woods. He packed up the usual. The journal, a blank journal, his favorite pen, a flashlight (never know when you’ll need one of those), a first aid kit, some snacks and two bottles of water. With his pack ready to go, he called that he was leaving to Grunkle Stan and he walked out the door. When he reached the edge of where he knew the barrier was, he hesitated. Figuring though, that he had nothing left to lose he stepped over the line. He was immediately hit with that pull again. The voice was back too, but less loud and harsh. It was more like a whisper. Like something that was trying its best to coerce him into entering the forest. Looking back one more time at the shack, he walked into the forest.

It was the same as he remembered it. Tall, looming trees, darkened forest floor, damp ground and mossy. The air was a bit cool and the breeze felt nice. Dipper hummed to himself as he walked, trying not to focus on the fact that he was seemingly following the pull. He couldn’t seem to help it. The forest’s magic felt like it was coursing through him, almost like it was trying to collect him to be a part of it. He didn’t know what to make of that.

After walking for a good hour and a half, he came across a clearing. The clearing was vaguely familiar to him as he’d only been here once in his exploration of the forest. But something seemed different about it than the first time he’d stepped foot here. The pull felt stronger and stronger the closer he got to the middle of the clearing. The sound of the thumping heartbeat was back and it did little to settle his nerves. _This is just too weird..._ He finally reached the middle of the clearing and the pull stopped. It was like he’d reached his destination and the pull no longer had its use.

“Ok forest…I’m out here. Mind telling me what’s going on?” No response came. Dipper frowned. He was sure something would happen when he got here. “Seriously, what am I doing? I’m out here talking to a forest…” Just as he was about to give up and leave, that’s when it happened. He felt a surge of magic course through him. It started at his feet and traveled up the length of his body. He threw his head back and yelled, his eyes glowing white and a beam of white light shooting out from his mouth. A moment later, Dipper collapsed on the ground, unconscious.


	3. The Face of Evil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew...this thing took a bit of time. I actually was mostly finished with it but I was also working on two other things. See the end of the chapter to know what I was working on. This chapter is as big as the first two combined. lol Hope you enjoy and sorry for the wait! =)

**Chapter 3**

 

Dipper groaned as he slowly sat up. He tried to clear the hazy fog of his sleep. Images of a dark forest and a being lingering there skittered through his mind. He tried to focus on them but he was too far into the waking world to remember what he saw while he slept. Then his eyes shot open. Wait! He didn’t sleep. He’d been knocked unconscious. Quickly glancing around in a panicking manner, he noticed that he was on the forest floor and it was dark out. His breath quickened as he felt a strange sensation coursing through him. It almost felt like he could actually _feel_ the layout of the forest.

“What in the world is going on?!” He stood up shakily, narrowly keeping himself from falling back over. Given that it was night time, he had to have been knocked out for the whole day. He was honestly surprised he was still alive. The creatures that came out at night weren’t particularly kind and he had been laying vulnerable in the middle of a clearing. Not exactly the best place to be. Dipper started walking on unsteady legs, trying to get a grasp of the situation. He only remembered reaching the point that he’d woken up. Everything after that was either nonexistent or a hazy blur. Just what had happened to him?

“I’ve got to get back to the shack.” Just then, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The air around him got cold. He froze in place and glanced around, not seeing anyone or anything. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. He also knew it wasn't Bill because the creep had watched him enough times that he knew what it felt like.

Kicking himself into gear, he rushed forward towards home. Adrenaline kicked in and he found himself running as fast as his legs would take him to get back to the shack. _I just need to reach the protective circle._ Dipper silently thanked the fact that he’d taken up running for exercise the past few years. He could feel a presence now and it made his blood run cold. He didn’t dare look back for fear of what he would find if he did. He could hear it rushing through the trees. Dipper pushed himself further and he could see the faint light of the windows on the shack now. _A little further! Come on! Come on!_ When he broke into the clearing, he practically threw himself into the protection of the shack’s barrier. He tumbled and skidded to a stop about ten feet in. The feeling of the presence was still there, but it was dulled. He chanced a look back at where he’d come out of the forest and he instantly regretted it. Stand just outside the barrier was a creature he’d never seen before. Its body was completely black and seemed amorphous. It shifted and moved like a sheet billowing in the breeze or perhaps more akin to ink spilling into water. The only defining features were the glowing, blood red eyes with slit pupils and the gaping mouth full of razor sharp teeth. It seemed thoroughly pissed off that it hadn’t caught Dipper. A harrowing howl erupted from its throat and it slinked back off into the forest. Dipper’s heart was racing a mile a minute and he was as white as a sheet. What the hell was that thing? The mere fact that he could still feel it’s presence inside of the safety of the shack meant that whatever it was, it had an immense power.

Stan came bursting out of the shack with a shotgun at the ready. “What’s going on!? Who do I need to kill!?” Then he looked down. “Dipper? Damn it boy. Where have you been? Your sister has been worried sick. And what the hell was that noise?” He reached down to help Dipper up.

Dipper took the offered hand and stood up. He looked up at his uncle. “I…I don’t know Grunkle Stan…I don’t know…” Dipper’s body was shaking as he stood there.

“Alright, let’s get you inside. It’s not safe after dark.” Stan led Dipper in and shut the door behind him. They were met by Mabel as soon as they came in.

“Grunkle Stan, what was-“ She gasped. “DIPPER!” Mabel ran over and threw her arms around her brother and squeezed the life out of him. She pulled back and whacked him with the magazine she had been reading. He flinched but didn’t move away from her. “You jerk! I was so worried about you! What did I tell you about pissing off magical creatures! You didn’t leave a message or anything. You just disappeared and we had no idea what happened…or where you were…” Tears started spilling out of her eyes and she drew him into a hug again, squeezing him tightly. “And I was just so worried! I’m so glad you’re ok!” She let out a sob and didn’t release the death grip on her brother. “You never stay in the forest after dark. I thought something bad happened to you.”

Dipper returned her hug, though with less force than she was using. “There’s something bad out there Mabel. I think…I think it’s hurting the forest. And…I think that’s why the forest was calling to me. Something happened out there. I...I don’t know what. I just remember following that pull I was telling you about. Next thing I know, I’m waking up at night and that thing starts chasing me. I guess I woke up at just the right time.”

Mabel pulled back and held Dipper at arm’s length so that she could look him in the face. “Dipper, you could have been killed. Oh my god. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you. You…you don’t have any idea what was chasing you?”

Dipper shook his head. “No, but it seemed very ticked off that it hadn’t caught me. I think it was looking for me. Like…it knew I was in the forest and it was trying to get rid of me. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. What do I have to do with the forest?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.” She squeezed her brother’s shoulders reassuringly.

“Yeah…about that kids. Things have been sort of…off since about a month ago. I’ve been in the woods a few times during the day and I found corpses every time I went out. Not human, but not your regular run of the mill forest creatures either. They were magical creatures. I told Ford about it and he examined them. Said something about them being drained of their magic.”

Mabel looked sad. “That’s terrible. What could be doing this?”

“No idea but whatever it is, it’s bad. But neither of us has seen whatever it is that’s doing this. Dipper is the only one. I was hoping it’d leave you kids alone but given that Dipper here seems to be a magical trouble magnet, I should have expected this.”

Dipper frowned. Ok, so that was as worrisome as the fact that the thing almost killed him. It hadn’t shown itself to anyone but him. But why? “I need to talk to Ford.”

Mabel nodded and let her brother go. “He’s down in his lab. He’s been pouring over ways to find you since I realized something was wrong.”

Dipper felt bad that everyone had had to worry about him. “Well I don’t think the same thing is going to happen twice…so it shouldn’t happen again. Sorry for making you guys worry.”

Mabel punched his arm and he let out an indignant ‘ow’ before glaring at her. “Don’t apologize ya dummy. Of course we’re going to worry. Just don’t do it again.” She pointed at him with a stern look.

He smiled apologetically at her. “Right…of course. I’m gonna go talk to Ford now.” He left the two standing at the entrance of the shack to go seek out Ford. At this point he was moving on autopilot and he hadn’t realized he’d reached Ford’s lab until he was met with the elder man’s relieved voice.

“Dipper! Oh thank goodness you’re ok. I thought the forest had got you for sure. Where have you been boy?” Dipper looked up and his expression must have told Ford everything he needed to know. “I see, so you’ve encountered it then; the thing that’s been killing off the creatures of the forest?”

Dipper nodded. “It was terrifying Grunkle Ford. I’ve never felt something so malicious before. It was after me. I don’t know why, but it wanted me dead.”

Ford’s expression turned grave. “Then we have a bigger problem than we realized.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “What exactly happened out there?”

Dipper recounted all of the events that he remembered to Ford, just as he had Mabel and Stan. But he added one thing he hadn’t told them. He wasn’t sure they’d understand anyway. “Grunkle Ford…when I woke up…I could _feel_ the forest. Like…every part of it. It was faint, but it was there. What could that mean?” He looked at his great uncle expectantly. Dipper desperately hoped that Ford would have some kind of answer for him.

“You felt the forest? That’s highly unusual. Humans aren’t generally attuned to places like this. That is…unless you have some latent magical ability. Do you feel any different? Other than feeling the forest, that is.”

Dipper frowned. “I don’t think so. I mean, I’m still a bit in shock over what happened. Maybe after I get some rest I’ll know?” He hated not knowing what was going on.

“Yes, of course. You’ve been through quite the ordeal today, my boy. Go get some sleep and we’ll figure this out in the morning. I think it would be best if you didn’t leave the shack. We don’t know if this thing comes out during the day.”

“I don’t think it does. I mean, it seemed to be a part of the night. I don’t know how to describe it any other way. But yeah, I won’t be leaving the circle anywhere close to night time, if I leave it at all.”

Ford nodded. “Alright, Dipper. Get some rest.”

Dipper went to leave the room but he stopped at the doorway. “Oh, and Grunkle Ford? One more thing…” He looked over his shoulder at the old man. “I could still feel it through the barrier.” Ford tried hard not to let the alarm that statement caused to flash across his face but Dipper caught the tiniest hint of it and it just worried him more. “Good night.” With that, Dipper left the room and went back upstairs, leaving a very troubled and worried old man in his wake.

Dipper rubbed his face as he walked up the stairs to his room. Mabel had taken up the room downstairs when they became too old to share a room. He felt comfortable in the old attic so he had no complaints. When they’d decided that, he brought up the silly rug incident from when they were younger. His sister had laughed and said ‘boy were we dumb’. Dipper walked into his room, shutting the door behind him before flopping face first onto the bed.

“UUUggghhh…” he mumbled into the mattress. “This is not how I wanted this summer to start out. I wish I knew what was going on. Damn demons and their weird ways.” He grumbled but then, “Wait…Demons! Who better to ask about another demon than an actual demon I know?!” Dipper sat up in bed. “Bill! Get your triangular butt in here now! I need to talk to you!”

The room faded to grey. “Sheesh kid, is that any way to summon and ALL POWERFUL DEMON?” Then he paused, crossing his little black arms. “And I do not have a butt, thank you very much. And for good measure, if I did it would be the most glorious butt you’ve ever laid your pathetic, useless mortal eyes on!”

Dipper couldn’t help the snicker that escaped his throat. “You’re beyond ridiculous. But…there’s something bad happening and I was wondering if you knew anything about it.” Dipper’s expression turned to worrisome.

“Something bad? That’s not much to go on kid. Besides, what could be worse than me?” Bill straightened his bowtie.

Dipper grew irritated. “That’s a wonderful bought of vanity you have going on there.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment…” Dipper grumbled. “Anyway, something chased me today. Something horrible. I barely made it back to the shack. Apparently, this thing has been sucking out the magic of the magical creatures around here. It hasn’t shown itself to anyone but me apparently. I don’t know why it was so interested in me though. It definitely wanted me dead though.”

Bill stared at him for a moment. “And you’re telling me this…why?”

“Aarggh!” Dipper threw up his hands in frustration and flopped back on the bed. He covered his eyes with his hands. Why did Bill have to be so difficult? He knew damn well why Dipper was telling him. He’d already stated it. Dipper felt Bill’s presence above him and then felt a pointy little black finger poking one of his hands. The poking got harder and Dipper tried to ignore the demon. But then the finger turned pinprick sharp and Dipper yelped, removing his hands to glare at Bill. The demon just wore a smug expression.

“Why am I having to explain myself anyway? Aren’t you all-knowing? Didn’t you tell me you were always watching? If that’s the case, then you should know damn well what happened today.”

The demon frowned at him, still floating about a foot above Dipper. “I am all-knowing. But I had better things to do than to watch you today, though it seems that I should have been. This magic sucker seems like a problem for the forest. I can’t have some blundering idiot ruining it. I need it for something.” Bill tsk’d. “Why do other demons think they can just encroach upon my territory? I’ve claimed this place. Who would be stupid enough to incur my wrath?”

Dipper quirked a brow at him. “I’m not even going to ask because I know you’ll just talk in circles and never actually answer my question.” He sighed, closing his eyes. “But I could use your help. You’d know best about demons. So you’ve gotta know what it is, right?”

Bill was silent for a long moment. He contemplated the situation. On one hand, a part of him wanted to watch the chaos this thing would cause. But another part of him was pissed off that the demon had ignored his claim. And perhaps, a small part of him was actually concerned about what might happen to Dipper. He squashed this part down. “Look, Pine Tree. I’ll be honest with you. Oh don’t give me that look. I’m actually being honest here. I think you’ve been around me enough to at least know that. I can’t fight this thing from this plane of existence. I mean, I’d be able to destroy its mind in its sleep but something tells me this thing doesn’t sleep and isn’t dumb enough to venture into my realm. Pretty sure it’s avoiding me anyway. So what I’m gonna need from you if you want my help…is a physical body.”

Dipper’s eyes snapped open in alarm. “What?! You’re not possessing me again! Nuh uh!”

“Relax. I’m not going to take your body again. I was thinking something more permanent.” Bill wasn’t sure Dipper would go for it. After all, it was a risk bringing the demon into his plane of existence. At first, Bill thought that this thing may have been the soulmate he was waiting for. But when he’d heard that it was draining the inhabitants of the forest of their magic, he knew it wasn’t. The keeper of the forest would never do such a thing. So he now felt he would need to get rid of it. There had to be a forest for his soulmate to be able to show up.

“A…permanent body? Is that even possible? Would you still have your powers? Would you be human? Would you actually behave yourself? Or would you take this opportunity to wreak havoc?” Dipper’s mind was running a mile a minute thinking of all the ways this could backfire. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t do this himself. That horrifying creature was just too powerful. He needed Bill’s help.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there Pine Tree! One question at a time! Yeesh. For starters, yes it is possible. Takes a good amount of magic though, which I don’t think you have much…of…” Bill stared at Dipper’s face, his eye narrowing. “Why is your forehead glowing?”

“Again?! Wait…you can see it!?” Dipper’s eyes were wide.

“Yeah, I can see it. It’s plain as day.” Bill came closer and pushed Dipper’s hair up with his tiny hands. “Your weird birthmark is glowing.” Bill concentrated. “And what’s this?” Bill seemed to be lost in thought.

Dipper stared at him in anticipation. It was a little strange having the demon this close to him but that wasn’t his concern right now. He was really anxious to know if Bill could tell him what his forehead glowing meant. So he asked. “Do you know why it’s glowing? It started yesterday. It’s been on and off.”

Bill placed a hand over the mark. “Shhh, I’m concentrating Pine Tree.” Bill focused on the mark and the magical energy it was putting off. Sure enough, he could feel the flow extending through Dipper’s body. “Well I’ll be damned. You seem to have some late blooming magical ability. That’s gonna make this ten times easier!”

Bill let go of him and Dipper oddly felt sad at the loss of contact. He brushed that feeling aside. “So…I’m magical now? I can use magic?” Then the thought really settled in and he got excited. He sat up, grabbing Bill along the way so he didn’t smack into him and held him in front of himself. “I can use magic!! This is so cool! I’ve always dreamed of being able to!”

Bill had let out and undignified squawk at being manhandled. “Warn a guy next time! And yes, it means you can use magic now. Though, you’re going to have to develop it.”

Dipper was so happy that he didn’t even think twice about hugging Bill to his body. “Aaah! This is so exciting! I have to tell Grunkle Ford! Think of all the possibilities!”

Bill squirmed and flailed until he was free of Dipper’s arms. “Geez, Pine Tree. Don’t handle me like that.” The demon brushed off imaginary dirt from himself and straightened his bowtie. “I get that you’re excited but I have BOUNDARIES.”

Dipper just rolled his eyes at him, but he couldn’t wipe the excited smile from his face. “You’ve never cared about boundaries Bill. Why should I?” He smirked at the demon.

“Listen here, you little shit. I’m still an all-powerful demon and I will not have you treating me like a proverbial teddy bear, thank you very much.” He materialized a cane and poked Dipper in the cheek with it. “Keep your grubby meat paws off the merchandise.”

“Whatever, Bill.”

“ANYWAY! As I was saying, there’s a ritual to give me a physical body. If I’m going to help you with this thing, which I’m totally doing for only MY benefit, then I’m going to need to be in your plane of existence for a while. But don’t take it lightly. The spell takes a good amount of magic to successfully achieve it. And I suppose I could help you develop your magical abilities.” Bill wasn’t going to say so, but Dipper had an enormous well of untapped magical energy for some reason. He wasn’t quite sure where it had come from because the last time he checked, Dipper was pretty much dry as a bone when it came to magic. Perhaps he really was just a late bloomer.

Dipper smiled so brightly at Bill that he was practically beaming. It shocked Bill because he felt a tiny stirring of what could be considered fondness form within himself. It both pissed him off and intrigued him at the same time. What the hell was it about this human that got to him?

Dipper thought for a moment. “Ok. I’ll do it. But you have to promise not to hurt any humans, ok? Unless they’re trying to hurt you or if you’re protecting someone else. Got it? And try not to kill anyone in the process of that.” He glared sternly at Bill.

Bill put up his hands in mock surrender. “No killing, no maiming. Got it.”

“So what do we need? I presume that I have to gather ingredients correct? Can’t just make something out of nothing, right?” Dipper looked at Bill expectantly.

“Right, a list. Well, you’re going to need demon’s blood, deer teeth, night root, the hair of a unicorn and last but not least, your own blood. Of course there’s also a summoning circle to be drawn and words to recite. I assume you’re at least familiar with Latin.”

“Yeah, I’m familiar with it. Wait…why do you need my blood?”

“It binds me to this plane. You’ll be my anchor of sorts. That’s how this whole thing works. I can’t exist in this world without you.” Bill stared at Dipper.

“Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense.”

“Of course it does. Also, I’ll provide you with the demon blood, obviously. Now you better get to it. Time is of the essence Pine Tree! Call me when you have all the ingredients and then I’ll give you the plans for the circle and the words to recite.” With that, Bill was gone and the color flooded back into the world.

Dipper sat there for a moment, contemplating everything he’d learned. “Wait a minute! You never told me what this thing was Bill!” he yelled out.

“In time, Pine Tree,” Bill’s voice said inside his head.

Dipper just shook his head. All of this information was a lot to take in. He resumed his laying position on the bed. This situation was just getting more and more complicated. “Shit…I promised to make Bill a body. Grunkle Ford is not going to like that. He doesn’t even know I’ve been talking to Bill.” Dipper rubbed his face and turned to look at his clock. It was 9:47. Mabel should still be up. He got up and went to her room, knocking softly on the door.

“Come in!” Mabel said from the other side of the door.

Dipper opened up the door and walked into her room. It was like an assault of color had slapped him in his face. He’d probably never get used to the brightness that was Mabel Pine’s room. “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Uh, doy. Of course you can talk to me Dipdop. What are twins for? What a dumb question to ask.” She smiled at Dipper and patted the spot next to her on the bed. She moved her scrapbooking supplies aside to make room for Dipper to sit.

“Thanks.” He took a seat next to her. “So…this thing is pretty bad.”

Her expression fell to one of concern. “Yeah. That thing is pretty scary. What are we gonna do? You can’t spend all your time hiding in the shack. We’ve gotta get rid of it somehow.”

Dipper bit his lip in apprehension. “Well…about that. I called on Bill to see if he knew anything. And um…I kind of agreed to make him a body so he can help me fight this thing.”

“You what now? Dipper! Are you kidding me! I mean, I can deal with you talking to him and being all buddy buddy…but bringing him into our world?! I mean, it’s bad enough that you tattooed his wheel on your arm so that you can talk to him whenever. But you seriously want to give him a way to actually hurt us!? He tried to kill us Dipper!”

“That was once! And it was only the first summer here. He hasn’t done anything since! You know that. Look, he’s behaved himself all these years. Well, behaved as well as a demon can, but that’s beside the point. He seems to want this thing gone as much as we do. He said something about needing the forest for something. I don’t know what, but it seemed important. I told him no maiming or killing. He agreed. I’ve…well I’ve been around him long enough to know him well enough to know he won’t go back on his word.” Dipper sighed in frustration. “I know you don’t trust him and you’ve been pretty accepting of my weird hate friendship with him, but I really think he could help us. There isn’t much choice. He’s powerful. That thing out there is too much for us to handle. What better way to get rid of it than to pit another demon against it?”

Mabel was torn. She knew Dipper had a point, but she just wasn’t sure if she was ready to trust Bill. But she did trust her brother and if he said this could work, then it could work. “Ok...Ok. If you think this is the right thing to do…then let’s do it. I trust you.” She smiled at Dipper.

Dipper smiled back and hugged her. “Thanks sis. Mystery twins?”

Mabel squeezed Dipper. “Mystery twins.”

Dipper pulled back suddenly. “Oh! One more thing! Bill could see my birthmark glowing! He told me that I have magical abilities! Isn’t that great!?” He left out the part where Bill was touching him to find this out. That fact might freak Mabel out a little. Or it would give her more fuel for the whole ‘demon boyfriend’ thing.

Mabel gasped. “Whoa! Really?! That’s awesome Dipper! You’ve always wanted those! But wait, I thought you had to be born with stuff like that?”

“Apparently I’m just a late bloomer. That’s what Bill said at least.” Dipper shrugged.

“So is Bill gonna help you with that too?”

“Yeah, he said he would.” Dipper paused for a moment. “We can’t tell Stan or Ford about this. Especially not Ford. He’d never let us go through with it.”

“Yeah, I think he’d probably lock us up and throw away the key for being crazy. So when is this supposed to happen?”

“Well, Bill gave me a list of ingredients. He said to collect those first and then he’d give me the rest of the spell.” Dipper rubbed his chin in thought.

“Well what do we need for it? Don’t tell me it’s a crazy list.”

“Actually, it’s a fairly short list. I really thought it would be longer. Demon’s blood, which he said he’d provide, deer teeth, night root, a unicorn hair and…and my blood.”

Mabel’s expression turned into one of surprise. “Your blood?!”

Dipper waved his arms in a placating manner. “He said I have to have that because I would be his tether to this plane of existence. I believe his exact words were that he couldn’t exist in this world without me.”

“I uh…well I guess that makes sense. But wouldn’t that mean you two are bound to each other?”

“Well, no…just him to me. It’s complicated and simple at the same time.” Dipper shrugged. “But that’s beside the point. Do you still have that collection of unicorn hair?”

“Pssh, do I still have the unicorn hair? Of course I still have it. It’s unicorn hair! Unicorn!” She threw her arms out and wiggled them for emphasis.

Dipper laughed softly. “So that just leaves the deer teeth and the night root. And I have no idea where to look for those.”

“I’m sure we can figure it out. Maybe Grunkle Ford has some in his storage room? You know, the one with all the ingredients for all his magical spells and such. He’s a thorough fella. I’m sure he’d have at least one of those right?”

Dipper nodded in agreement. “Ok. Yeah, that’s a good place to start. We just need to find the two ingredients, thankfully. The journals don’t mention a spell like this, but I think there’s a section about night root. I’ll have to go back through it. And I don’t even want to think about how I’m going to get deer teeth right now. Maybe Wendy can help in that department. I just hope that I can pull this off. Bill said it takes a good amount of magical power to accomplish. What if I screw it up?”

“Dipper, you’ll do just fine! I have complete confidence in you Bro Bro! You’re smart and really good at this kind of stuff! We’ve got nothing to worry about. Well, save for the fact that we’re bringing a demon into our world. That’s worrisome. But I don’t doubt that you can do it!” She patted his shoulder.

“Thanks Mabel.” He smiled warmly at her. He could always count on her to be his support. He was certain he wouldn’t be able to do this if she didn’t have his back.

“You’re always welcome Dipper. So…what a day huh? I thought Grunkle Stan was going to start tearing up the shack when I figured out you were missing. And Grunkle Ford locked himself away in his lab looking for scyring spells. I ruined one of my sweaters from tugging on it while worrying about you. Just please be careful from now on, ok? You’ve got an angry demon after you. Let’s not piss off any more magical creatures, ok Dip’n’Scratch?”

Dipper laughed nervously. “Yeah, trust me. I will not be doing that. Anyway, it’s getting late Mabes. I’m gonna go rest. We can start looking for that stuff first thing tomorrow morning.”

Mabel nodded in agreement. “Right.” She hugged Dipper again. “Night Dipper.”

“Night Mabel.” He smiled at her as he left his room and went back to his own. Dipper tucked himself into his bed and let out a long sigh. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. He tried not to worry too much about it. As he drifted off to sleep, he felt the familiar presence of Bill watching him. Instead of unsettling him though, it actually gave him a sense of security and he quickly fell asleep.

 

**This is what Dipper and Mabel look like in the story. I tried for the gravity falls type style.**

                                      

                                     


	4. The Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I'm sorry this took so long to get done. I had work during the week and family over this weekend. I was busy. But I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
> 
> Also, you can follow me on tumblr: http://jadeelements.tumblr.com/

**Chapter 4**

 

“Just go ask him.”

“I can’t just go ask him. What am I even supposed to say the ingredients are for?” Dipper stared pointedly at his sister.

“But how else are you going to know if he has it? He keeps all that stuff locked up you know. Paranoid old man.” Mabel huffed.

“I know that, but seriously…what do I say?”

“You’re the one with all the magical knowledge! How the heck should I know what you should tell him? Is there anything in the book that requires those things?”

“Not the last I checked. Well, there is a warding spell that uses night root, but nothing for deer teeth. Maybe I can just glance around and see if he has it while we’re in there.”

“There you go! That sounds reasonable right? I mean, you are trying to keep things out. Now go ask!” Mabel nodded eagerly at him.

Dipper sighed. “Alright, it’s as good an excuse as any I suppose.” He punched in the code on the vending machine and descended down to Ford’s lab.

“Hey, Grunkle Ford.” Dipper smiled as he greeted his great uncle.

“Ah! Dipper! Just who I was hoping to see! Here, hold this!” Ford pushed an item into Dipper’s hands.

“What? Uh…what is this?”

“Hold still!” Ford pressed a button on another device that he was holding. Suddenly, Dipper was floating up off the ground.

Dipper let out a yelp of surprise. “Whoa! Wait a minute! Why am I floating!?” He flailed about nervously, gripping the device for dear life.

Ford let out a triumphant sound and threw his fist up. “Haha! Success! I was really worried it wouldn’t work. You arrived just in time to test it out.”

“Ok…um…yeah, that’s great and all…but could you let me down? This is a little unsettling.” Dipper laughed nervously.

“Oh! Of course, my boy.” Ford pressed the button again and Dipper dropped back to the ground.

“Whew…ok. Warn me next time ok?” Dipper let out relieved sigh.

“So what can I do for you Dipper?”

The question reminded Dipper of why he was down here in the first place. He tried not to let his nervousness show. “Oh, yeah. I was wondering if you have any night root? I want to ward my room. You know, just in case.”

Ford stared at him quizzically. “Do you not think that my protection spells will hold?”

“Oh! No!” He waved his arms around indicating that’s not what he meant. The last thing he wanted to do was offend his great uncle. “I didn’t mean to imply that. I’m just…I want to be extra safe. I mean, I’m paranoid enough as it is. It’ll help settle my mind if my room specifically is warded.”

Ford considered this for a moment, a calm unreadable expression on his face. “Hmm…alright then. I suppose a healthy dose of paranoia never hurt. Let’s go get it. I should still have some in my storage room.” The elder man walked over to his ingredients pantry, sliding a key into the lock and opening the door. He walked over to the ‘n’ section. Ford liked things orderly, so all of his ingredients were on the shelves in alphabetical order. “Night root, night root…ah, yes! Here we are!” He picked up the jar holding the night root and turned to hand it to Dipper.

Dipper took the jar carefully. “Thanks Grunkle Ford.” He looked down at the jar and studied the root. It was black as the night and it almost seemed like it was shifting within the confines of the jar. The movement reminded him of the creature that had chased him and a shiver ran down his spine.

Ford walked over to a log book on a desk near the door. “This here is my log book. Every time I use something, I write it down. Helps keep track of things.” He jotted down what Dipper took, filling out the time, date, and item.

Dipper nodded and walked over glancing at the book. He was glad that he wasn’t the only one who categorized and logged things. It made him feel less alone that he actually had someone in his family he could relate to.

Ford walked over to a filing cabinet and rifled through the folders. “Now, about the night root. Don’t touch it with your bare hands, don’t smell it directly, and most importantly, don’t ingest any of it. This stuff can be very dangerous but it’s very useful. Powerful too. Here.” Ford walked back over to him and handed him a paper labeled ‘Night Root’. “This is just a sheet stating the basic guidelines and precautions. I know you’re pretty good at remembering things but it doesn’t hurt to have a copy. I have a document like that for each of my items here in that filing cabinet over there. The two cabinets next to it have papers outlining all the known uses of my ingredients.”

“That’s pretty thorough. I’m impressed.” Dipper smiled at his great uncle.

Ford smiled back. “I like to be prepared. Years of dealing with the paranormal and supernatural makes you extra cautious.”

Dipper laughed softly. “Yeah, I hear you there.”

“I presume you have the instructions for the warding spell, correct?”

“Yep! It’s in the journal. Thanks again Grunkle Ford.” Dipper turned to leave the room.

“Anything for my great nephew.” He followed Dipper out and locked the door behind himself. “Is that everything?”

“It is. I’ll see you later!” Dipper went towards the elevator. As he waited in the elevator to go up, he thought over the ingredient list. “Damn…no deer teeth…” Dipper chewed his lip in frustration. He had glanced around the ingredients before Ford had handed him the night root and there weren’t any deer teeth present on the shelves. Walking out of the elevator, he contemplated ways he could get them. He was so caught up in thought that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking and as he came out into the shop, he ran right into a solid body.

“Are you ok dude? You seemed like you were off in space.”

Dipper looked up at who he’d run into. “Soos!” He drew him in for a hug. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been great. Melody and I are expecting again! I’m so stoked.”

“That’s great! Congratulations!” Dipper smiled warmly at the man he practically considered a brother. Dipper had grown over the years, now standing at a respectable five foot eleven, but Soos was still taller than him. Soos had taken up running the shack most of the time, as it was promised to him whenever Stan finally decided to retire. Soos had married Melody about a year after the twins first summer in Gravity Falls. They had a little boy not long after that, who was now six, and one more child, a girl, that was four. In fact, said little girl was suddenly throwing herself at his legs.

“Uncle Dipper!” She squealed as she hugged his legs.

Dipper smiled warmly at her and ruffled her hair, laughing. “Well hello to you too, Mindy.” The little girl had taken a liking to Dipper and was always excited to see him.

“She insisted on coming to work with me today so that she could see you. I wouldn’t have been able to convince her otherwise.” Soos smiled and shrugged.

“It’s fine because I missed you, you little scamp.” Dipper set the jar and paper down on the shelf near him. He gathered Mindy up in his arms and hugged her. She squealed in happiness, throwing her little arms around his neck. He set her back down and couldn’t keep the feeling of happiness from spreading through him.

“I’m gonna go find Stan. I’ll see you later Dipper.”

Dipper nodded and waved. He picked the jar and the paper back up and walked into the living room where he’d left Mabel. She was sitting on the couch but got up quickly when she noticed him.

“So did you get it?” Her tone was hopeful.

Dipper held up the jar, shaking it for emphasis. “Yep. He didn’t have any deer teeth though.” He frowned.

“I’ve got you covered there.”

“You do?” Dipper stared quizzically at his sister. “How?”

“Wendy! I texted her and told her you needed deer teeth for some spell you were doing and that Grunkle Ford didn’t have any. She said she’d help us get them! Thank you, thank you. You can hold your applause for my greatness.” She smiled and bowed.

Dipper snorted at his sister’s antics. “You’re ridiculous. But that’s awesome! We haven’t seen her in a while anyway. When is she supposed to be here?”

“She said she’d be here around noon, so we’ve got a few hours to kill. She’s driving back from her trip to the coast.”

“Alright. How are we going to kill a few hours?”

“Movie time!” Mabel threw her arms up and ran over to the shelf holding the DVDs that they’d insisted Grunkle Stan keep. He didn’t watch any of them, claiming that the DVD player was stupid and complicated. He was really just irritated that he couldn’t figure it out. She pulled out a DVD and popped it in.

“Don’t I even get a say in what we watch?”

“Nope!” She plopped down on the couch, grabbing her brother’s arm on the way down and forcing him to sit.

He just sighed with a small smile on his face and settled in to get comfortable.

An hour and a half had passed when they heard the knock on the front door. They both glanced at the clock.

“Huh, she’s early. I’ll get it.” He got up and walked to the door. Right after he opened the door, he was enveloped in a bone crushing hug.

“Dipper! I missed you dude!” Wendy pulled him into a headlock and gave him a noogie.

“Ah! Stop it! Uncle! Uncle!” Dipper laughed and patted her arm.

Wendy laughed and released him. She had grown a little more but she still looked the same. Dipper was actually taller than her now, though he only had about 2 inches on her. She had grown into a beautiful woman. Dipper no longer had a crush on her. That had stopped after he’d left. He realized that it was just a crush of admiration. Now she was like a sister to him. A very strong sister that could still beat him up if she wanted to. She was a force to be reckoned with.

Dipper smiled at her. “I’ve missed you too Wendy. God it’s been forever.”

“It has, man. So I hear you need some deer teeth, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s for a spell I’m doing. There’s…well there’s something wrong with the forest. Something evil is plaguing it. I…it’s after me.” Dipper glanced out at the forest through the window, looking nervous.

“Oh shit, man. That’s not good at all. We’re going to have to go into the forest to find a deer. Are you going to be able to go out there?”

Dipper nodded in determination. “I think it can only come out at night. Plus, well we have to get them and I can’t ask you to just go alone. I mean, not that you’re not capable because hell, you’re probably more capable than me. But this is something I want to do, so I’d feel bad if I stayed behind.”

Wendy smiled at him. “Nah, I get it, man. I guess we should go ahead and head out there. It’s going to take a little while to find a deer.”

“Right, let me go get my backpack. Mabel is in the living room. Go say hi while you wait.”

Wendy nodded and disappeared around the corner to go greet Mabel. Dipper ran upstairs to get his pack _.”Be careful out there.”_ Bill’s voiced floated through his head. It surprised Dipper. He waited to see if Bill would say anything else, but he was silent. It worried Dipper. If Bill was telling him to be careful, then this thing must be really, really bad. It made him shiver thinking about it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’ll be fine. You can do this.” He shook himself, picked up his pack and walked back down the stairs.

“Ready to go?” He looked to Wendy expectantly.

“Yep.” She nodded and walked over to the door with him.

Mabel followed them to the front door. “Be careful you two. Wendy, make sure my doofus of a brother doesn’t get himself killed.” She hugged Dipper.

“I’ll keep him safe.” She saluted Mabel. Mabel grinned at her.

They walked out the front door towards the forest. When they reached the edge of the protection circle, Dipper stopped. He stared at the ground and then looked out to the forest. Wendy stared at him curiously. Dipper took a calming breath and stepped out of the barrier. They walked into the forest in silence, both glancing around cautiously.

After walking for an hour now with no sign of a deer, Dipper was beginning to think there weren’t any deer out here. He and Wendy had been walking in companionable silence, their footsteps the only sound in the forest around them. That was a little unsettling. Shouldn’t there be more noises?

Wendy spoke up, breaking the silence. “So what is this thing? You said it was after you…but why?” She glanced at him, a worried expression placed upon her face.

“I don’t know what it is. That’s the problem. And I have no earthly idea why it wants me dead. I’ve never seen this thing before. It doesn’t make any sense.” He frowned.

“That’s just weird, man. Are the deer teeth for a spell to stop it?”

“Yeah.” He wasn’t technically lying about its use, he just wasn’t sure if he could tell Wendy about Bill. Bill had pulled a few nasty pranks on her before. She didn’t care for the demon at all.

“I see. Well, I know you’ll use that big brain of yours to figure this out.” She stopped walking and he glanced at her curiously. “Hang on, there’s some deer tracks here.” They heard a twig snap about ten yards away and they quickly looked in that direction.

There was a deer there, but something about it seemed off. It was staring at them, its eyes glossy and black. The fur around its neck was stained red as if it had had a rope tied around it that wore into the skin and its antlers were sharp at the ends instead of rounded. It was thin, almost like it had been starving.

Dipper stared at it and began to worry. There was something seriously off about this deer. “That’s…that’s not a normal deer.”

Wendy reached to her belt and grabbed the axe that she had secured to her hip. “Yeah, you’re telling me. Don’t move.”

Dipper nodded and waited on baited breath to see what this strange deer would do. Suddenly, it let out an earsplitting shriek and started charging towards him. He yelled in alarm. The damn thing moved too fast for it to be normal. It moved like it was possessed by a demon. Dipper just barely managed to dodge out of the way. One of the antlers caught his arm as it passed and it sliced it open. Dipper yelled out in pain and cradled his slashed arm to himself. Wendy yelled his name, her voice filled with worry. He dodged it more successfully the second time around, but it twisted its body around in an impossible angle to be able to charge him again. Dipper didn’t have time to react this time. It barreled into him, knocking him into the ground. He grabbed it by the antlers and held its head back as it tried to snap at him. He heard a shuffling of boots and the next thing he knew, he was stuck under a spray of blood. A sickening crack had been heard when the blow hit. Dipper screamed, not expecting that at all. The creature let out a gurgling sound, blood spilling from it’s mouth as it collapsed on him. He quickly pushed it off himself and scooted back quickly away from it. He was breathing heavy and staring at it wide-eyed. Wendy’s axe was protruding out of the back of its neck.

“What the hell?!” Dipper yelled. “How did that thing even get like that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff while living here, but never something like that. Deer don’t go feral and they scare easily. They sure as hell don’t attack people. It was weird…it went straight for you, like I wasn’t even here.” She offered her hand to him to help him up.

He took her hand and rose to his feet. “Yeah, you noticed that too. I think that evil entity out there has found a way to use the animals of the forest to get at me.”

“Then we shouldn’t stay out here. Let’s get its teeth and get the hell out of the forest.” Wendy went to pull the teeth from the deer’s mouth. She pulled out a pair of pliers and went to work pulling all of them out. Wendy placed them in a bag as she pulled them.

Dipper glanced around the forest nervously. He loves the forest, but it was getting unsettling being in it because of this thing. He needed to hurry and get Bill this body. The danger was growing every minute.

“Done.” Wendy stood up and handed the bag of deer teeth to Dipper.

“Thanks. Let’s get back to the shack.”

Dipper led the way and they quickly made it back to the shack. He was relieved when they reentered the protection barrier. He couldn’t shake the bad feeling though. When they came back into the shack, Mabel got up from the couch to greet them.

“You guys are ba-holy pork chops! Dipper! What the heck happened to you!? You look like a scene from a murder movie!”

Dipper startled at her outburst. He glanced down at himself and ok, he supposed maybe he did look like that. The deer’s blood was all over him and his arm was drenched in his own blood. “Oh, we ran into this freaky deer. It was like it was possessed and it went after me directly.”

Mabel cursed under her breath. “Damn, you’re not even safe during the day. Are you ok? You’re not hurt are you?”

“I’m fine. I did get a gash on my arm though.” He held up his arm to show her.

She took his arm and inspected it. “Where? I don’t see anything.”

“Huh?” Dipper took his arm back and wiped the blood aside with his hand. Sure enough, the gash he’d had was gone. He gasped. “What the hell?! I’m healed?”

“What? No way! You mean you had a cut and it just healed itself back up? That’s pretty badass!”

Wendy glanced between the two twins. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”

Mabel turned to look at Wendy. “Oh! I’m sorry. Dipper here is magical now. Has something to do with his birthmark and being a late bloomer magic wise I think. I don’t get it but I tend to just roll with the weird stuff that happens to my brother.”

“Whoa! Seriously? Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?” Wendy glanced at him excitedly.

“Yeah, I haven’t had them for very long…so I haven’t really tested them out. But apparently part of it includes healing. That’ll certainly come in handy.”

“Tell me about it. I don’t think there’s been a single summer where you weren’t bloodied up for some reason or another.” Mabel shook her head in fond exasperation.

“Hey, it’s not my fault I’m some sort of magical magnet,” Dipper grumbled.

Wendy just laughed. “So you two need to fill me in about what’s going on. This situation seems pretty serious. It’s not Bill again is it?”

Dipper tensed at the mention of Bill and his sister gave him a reproachful look. He sighed. Then he recounted all the events so far to Wendy, leaving out the parts with Bill. Wendy was silent through it all, taking all the information in.

“So this thing really wants you dead, and its killing things in the forest and making things here pretty damn dangerous. And you basically can’t leave the shack without it trying to take you out in some way. That sucks big time Dipper.” Worry was evident on her face. Dipper was one of her best friends and she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. He was like her little brother.

“It does, but there’s not much I can do about it right now.” He chewed his lip; a nervous habit he should probably kick but he couldn’t seem to help doing it.

“So how exactly are you going to fight this thing? I mean, you’ve gotta get rid of it if it’s hurting the forest right? What is the spell for?” Wendy really hoped this thing wouldn’t become too big of a problem. She could see how worried Dipper was and it only made her worry more.

“Yeah…um…about that…I…you see…I’m uh..” Dipper stuttered but couldn’t seem to get the words out.

“Dipper is making Bill a body,” Mabel said in a deadpan way.

“Whoa, wait a minute…what? Bill? As in Bill Cipher; the psychotic triangle dude that gave you guys hell your first summer here? The same one who thought it was funny to leave animal heads on the counter by the register for me to find? What the shit are you thinking Dipper?” She stared at him like he was some sort of nutcase.

Dipper was frozen. He figured this would be her reaction. Damn Mabel and her big mouth.

Mabel crossed her arms. “Oh, Dipper here has been best buds with him for at least 3 years now. I’m not really happy about it; because you know, he’s a demon. But he seems to have stopped being generally horrible since he befriended Dipper, so I can’t really complain much.”

“Ok, first of all, we are not best buds. We’re just friends…sort of. It’s complicated. Frienemies is probably more accurate. I mean, he’s fun to talk to sometimes, but he’s still an asshole.” Dipper sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Look, I know you don’t trust him. Why would you? But you can trust me. Bill gave me his word he wouldn’t hurt anyone. I figured, he’s an all-powerful demon so what better thing to do than to use him to pit him against this thing. He wants it gone too. Said something about him waiting for something and he can’t have the forest getting destroyed. It’s way too powerful for me to take out by myself. I mean, yeah I’ve got magic now; but it’s underdeveloped and I don’t think it’s a whole lot. This is really our best bet.”

Wendy stared at him with a calculating expression. He had a point. She couldn’t really argue that they wouldn’t be able to take this thing out without some outside help. Though she didn’t like it one bit. “Ok…so you have some weird friendship with a demon so you think he’s just going to keep his word and fight this thing for you? I mean, you’re giving him a physical way to be able to hurt us. Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”

“Look, I know you think it’s weird. But I’ve dealt with Bill enough over the years to actually get a feel for when he’s being honest with me. Don’t ask me how I know…I just do. So I believe he’ll keep his word. It really is the only thing we can do right now.”

Wendy grumbled. She had to concede to Dipper on this. They really were in a tight spot. “Dipper, if you’re wrong on this, I’m going to kill you ok? Like, seriously. You better be right.”

Dipper visibly relaxed. “I promise you, I’m not wrong about this. Oh, and you absolutely cannot tell Grunkle Ford or Grunkle Stan. Especially not Ford. He’d kill me for even considering this.”

Wendy reluctantly nodded in agreement. “I won’t say anything. So what now?”

“Well, Bill said that as soon as I had the ingredients to call him and he’d give me the rest of the instructions.”

“So do you have everything?”

Dipper nodded. “I do. The deer teeth were the last ingredient to collect.”

“Well then I guess we should get to it then right?”

“Right.”

The three of them walked up the stairs and into Dipper’s room. He shut the door quietly behind him and set the ingredients on the desk. He turned to the two women in the room.

“Are you sure you guys want to be present? I mean, you two haven’t seen Bill since he stopped messing with you.” He glanced apprehensively at them.

“I’m good.” Wendy shrugged.

“Yep, ditto.” Mabel nodded.

Dipper took a deep breath. “Alright. Bill! Get your isosceles prick of a self in here. I’ve got the ingredients.”

Wendy looked surprised that Dipper was talking to Bill that way. Bill was a demon. Shouldn’t Dipper be worried or scared? She certainly felt worried for Dipper. She glanced over at Mabel and her expression told her that she had the same concerns.

The world faded to gray and Bill popped into existence in front of them. “Now now, Pine Tree. Haven’t we discussed your brazen rudeness? I thought I taught you better? Tsk tsk.” He twirled his cane. Then he saw the other two in the room and he smirked with his eye. “Ahh! Shooting Star! Long time no see! And look, it’s Red too! So glad you could JOIN us! Bill flared red and grew bigger and then shrunk back to his normal size, laughing maniacally at the nervous expressions the girls wore. Dipper was unimpressed.

“Bill. Stop it already. I called you for a reason, remember?”

Bill stopped laughed abruptly and turned to Dipper, crossing his tiny little arms. “You’re no fun.”

Both Wendy and Mabel were a little perturbed by the scene playing out in front of them. Dipper had told Bill what to do and instead of being tortured or yelled at, Bill actually did what Dipper said. It was freaky but it led them to believe that Dipper may actually be right about Bill keeping his word.

“I am fun. You and I just have different definitions of what fun is.”

“You’re totally not fun Dipdop. You’re kind of a stick in the mud.” Mabel couldn’t help but add to the conversation. She felt less apprehensive since Dipper seemed so confident.

Bill let out a roaring laugh. “See? Even your sister agrees with me!”

Dipper glared at Bill, his eyes momentarily flashing green in his anger. It did not go unnoticed by Bill. “We have the ingredients Bill. Now we need the instructions.”

“Alright, alright. No need to get your panties in a bunch.” Bill snapped his fingers and a paper appeared in his hands. He hand it to Dipper. This is the incantation.” He snapped his fingers again and another paper appeared. He handed this one to Mabel. “You’re the artistic one. This is the summoning circle. I trust you can draw it since your brother over there couldn’t draw a circle to save his life.”

“Hey!” Dipper threw a pillow he’d grabbed from his bed at Bill. It hit the demon with a soft  ‘whumph’.

Bill glared at him sideways. “Watch it Pine Tree.” Then he used his magic to hurl the pillow back at Dipper. It knocked Dipper over onto his bed and the man grumbled under his breath about ‘dumb triangles’ before standing back up.

Wendy and Mabel couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous the whole scene was. Dipper had essentially had a pillow fight with an ancient demon.

“Yeah, I can draw it. Do you have any chalk in here Bro bro?”

Dipper nodded and went to his desk to retrieve the chalk. He walked over to Mabel and deposited it in her hand.

“I’ve got to go back to the mindscape. You have to be summoning me from the physical world and seeing as you’re not there right now, it’d be counterproductive for me to stay here. Oh! But before I go…” Bill snapped and a vile appeared. He held out his arm and sliced it open, letting his blood pour into the vile. Once it was filled, he capped it and handed it to Dipper. “See you in a bit Pine Tree!” Bill blinked back out of the room and it returned to its normal colors.

Wendy stared at where the demon had been for a moment before turning to Dipper with a befuddled look on her face. “You really are friends with him. That’s so _weird_. And not to mention, dangerous.”

Dipper just shrugged. “It just kind of happened.”

“Alright, I’ll get started on it.” She moved to the middle of the room to start drawing the circle, making sure to focus because she really didn’t want this to backfire just because she drew it wrong.

Dipper walked over to his bed and sat down, reading over the instructions and the incantation. It wasn’t overly complicated. He studied that, waiting for Mabel to finish drawing the circle. Wendy looked over Mabel’s shoulder as she drew.

“Aaaaand, Done!” Mabel said as she finished the last stroke.

Dipper stood up and looked over the circle. He was impressed. It looked exactly like the drawing Bill had given her. “Awesome job Mabel.” He smiled at her. She smiled back.

“Of course it is! Now let’s get this over with.”

“Right. Wendy, grab the ingredients and put them in the parts of the circle that are specifically for them. Night root goes to the bottom left point, deer teeth to the bottom right point, the unicorn hair at the top, the demon blood on the left and the last one…well I have to place that one. Oh, and be careful with the night root. Leave it in the jar but open the lid. Make sure you don’t smell it directly.”

Wendy did as she was told and placed the ingredients around the circle. “Why do you have to add the last one?” Wendy asked him curiously.

“The last ingredient is my blood.”

“What?! Why?” Wendy was a bit alarmed by this.

“Because I’m his tether to this world. He can’t exist here without me.”

Wendy was a little disturbed but she supposed it made sense. She just hoped it didn’t mean any negative side effects were going to fall upon Dipper because of it.

Once the rest of the ingredients were in place, Dipper walked over to where his blood was supposed to go. “Wendy, bring me the knife from my drawer over there.”

“Ok.” Wendy walked over and retrieved the knife for Dipper. She made her way to him and handed it to him. “Are you sure you really want to do this? There’s no going back.” The nervous air had returned to the room. Even Dipper was feeling a little apprehensive about this whole thing.

“I’m sure. Besides, what other choice do we have?” He held up his arm over the ingredient slot, took a breath and then cut his arm. Dipper winced a little at the pain but held firm. He watched as his blood dropped on the floor. The lines of the circle glowed a soft blue color now that all the ingredients were in place. “I guess that means it’s working.” His arm healed itself again and the pain from the wound receded. He studied the circle for a moment. “Ok, here it goes.”

“Ego vocabo Bill NUMERUS in hoc mundo. Uti haec munera.

Afferte huc illum ad vitam. Per eius sanguinem meum.

Vivificet eum per sanguinem.

Ut vitae!

Ut vitae!

Ut vitae!” 

As Dipper finished the incantation, the circle emitted a light that was so bright it was blinding and they had to shield their eyes. A rush of wind circled around in the room, throwing the contents of Dipper’s bookshelves and desk around. Everyone’s hair was whipping around from the force of the wind. Then a familiar laugh started ringing through the room. The light began to dim and Dipper looked back towards the middle of the circle. He was unable to take his eyes from it. He could feel the tether of magic that connected them and allowed Bill to exist on this plane. He could also see a figure in the light. The figure was tall, taller than him in fact, at least six foot, one inch. The man had blonde hair that was a vast contrast to his dark skin. His hair was swept to one side but Dipper could still see both eyes. They were glowing yellow with the same catlike slit that Bill had in his triangle form. On his forehead was a third eye that was shut at the moment. He was lithe and full of lean muscle. The figure wore a yellow tail coat with a black vest and a white button up shirt underneath. His pants were black and he had on fancy dress shoes. A black top hat floated above his head. The light had finally gone out and the normal light of the room returned. Bill held his arms out wide with a Cheshire grin that showed his sharp teeth. 

“Hello Pine Tree.”  

 

* * *

 

 

The incantation translated is this (I used google translate so I don’t know how accurate it actually is.):

I summon Bill Cipher to this world.

Use these tasks . Bring him back to life . Through his blood .

Give him life through my blood.

To life!

To life!

To life!

**And here is my version of Human Bill.**

                                          


	5. The Demon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so here's the next chapter. I hope you guy enjoy it! I'm not 100% happy with it but it is what it is.

**Chapter 5**

 

Dipper stood there in shock. _Holy shit, it actually worked!_ He almost couldn’t believe it. After the initial shock of the success wore off, he looked over Bill. _Oh son of a bitch, he’s hot. Why is he hot?! This was not part of the plan!_

Bill continued to grin at Dipper. “What’s the matter Pine Tree? Demon got your tongue?” He chuckled at his own joke.

Dipper’s face flared up in red. Shit, he’d been staring. “No! I just…I just can’t believe it actually worked.”

Bill raised a brow. “If you say so…” He sauntered over to Dipper. Well, he would have if he hadn’t made a personal acquaintance of gravity by falling flat on his face.

The two girls in the room snickered at him and Dipper just face-palmed his forehead in shame. This was an all powerful being? He really wondered how Bill got to be so feared sometimes because he really couldn’t take the demon seriously when he was tripping over his own two feet.

Bill peeled himself up from the floor, returning to standing. “Ah! Pain is still hilarious. I forget you meat sacks have to deal with gravity sometimes.” Then he turned his head around like an owl does to glare at the two women in the room. “I’d advise against laughing at someone who in a simple snap of their fingers could kill you,” he said with a smile on his face. Mabel and Wendy both paled; equally freaked out by the move and the fact that Bill wasn’t happy with them. They cleared their throats and stopped laughing.

“Bill, don’t threaten them. You falling on your face was funny. Their laughter was justified.” Dipper crossed his arms and looked at Bill with a scowl.

“Always such a buzz-kill Pine Tree!” This time Bill actually did saunter over to Dipper.

As he got closer, Dipper tensed and began to panic a little. “What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Bill stopped right in front of him and wrapped an arm around Dipper’s waist. Then he grabbed one of Dipper’s hands and dipped him like they were dancing. Dipper was beet red by now and sputtering incomprehensible sounds. Bill turned to the women in the room who were just staring at the sight before them, unsure of how to act. “I’m borrowing Pine Tree for a moment.” And with that, the two disappeared, leaving Wendy and Mabel shocked and confused.

Mabel turned to Wendy. “I totally need to be worried about him don’t I?”

Wendy looked at her and nodded. “Looks like your teasing might not just be teasing anymore…”

 

* * *

 

Bill and Dipper snapped into existence inside what looked to Dipper like it was another dimension. Knowing Bill, it probably was. Bill was still holding on to him and Dipper flailed about until Bill let him go.

“What the hell Bill?! Where are we? And don’t manhandle me like that!” Dipper crossed his arms and stared at the demon expectantly.

Placing a hand on his chest in offense, he said, “Excuse you, I did not manhandle you. I handled you like a gentlemen.” Bill huffed, turning his head to the side.

“What? Are you trying to court me or something?!” Dipper stared at him incredulously.

“No.” Bill turned back to him and shrugged. Then he grinned slyly. “Do you want me to be?”

“What! No! Damn it Bill.” Dipper growled in frustration. Bill just cackled. This demon was going to be the death of him. “Where are we?”

“In a pocket dimension. They come in handy when you need a private place to be.”

“A pocket dimension…ok. I’m not going to question that and just roll with it. Why did you bring me here?”

“So we could talk? Did the dimension hopping fry your poor little human brain, Pine Tree?”

“If I had something to throw at you right now, I so would.” Dipper rubbed his temples. “What do you want to talk to me about that couldn’t be said in front of Mabel or Wendy?”

Bill’s expression soured. “Look, as much as I like Shooting Star, I don’t like Red. So I had to take you away.”

“You don’t like Wendy? Why the hell not?” Dipper just gave Bill a funny look.

“I just don’t OK?” Bill, in all honesty couldn’t figure out just why it was that he didn’t like the redhead. All that he knew that he didn’t want her around his Pine Tree. Dipper was his to mess with.

“You’re insane.” Dipper sighed. He was at his wits end with the demon. One more thing and he’d probably snap. “Ok…so out with it. What is it you want?”

“You know, you’re awfully snippy for a fleshbag that doesn’t stand a chance against me. I should just choose not to tell you anything with that attitude.” Bill crossed his arms petulantly.

“Damn it BILL!” Dipper’s patience snapped and a green aura erupted around Dipper for a brief moment, his eyes glowing green again. Bill’s hair lit up in a green flame.

Bill looked up at his head the best he could and saw that his head was on fire. “Did you…did you seriously just set my head on fire?” He stared at Dipper in disbelief, completely ignoring the green flame that was singing his hair.

Dipper immediately flipped from angry to worried. “Oh my god! Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! How did I do that!?” He gripped his head in panic. “How do I put it out?!” He ran over to Bill, yanking off his shirt on the way and throwing it over Bill’s head in hopes of putting out the flame. It just burned up the shirt and continued to blaze. Dipper was a wreck of nerves by this point.

“Relax, Pine Tree.” Bill snapped his fingers and the fire was gone. “You’re flames aren’t strong enough to really hurt me. Now a regular human…well you could have killed them. This is why I pulled you aside.”

“Really?” A wave of relief washed over Dipper. He’d been worried that he’d actually really hurt Bill. The young man chose to ignore the root of the reason for that worry. Then his eyes widened in realization. “Wait…I could kill someone if I’m not careful?” That’s the last thing he wanted. He’d always wanted magical abilities but he would never use them to hurt another person.

“Yeah. Look, I didn’t want to say anything before, but I think I need to now. You actually have a huge well of magical energy stored in you. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in your pathetic species before. Even old Fordsie doesn’t hold a candle to you and he’s one of the most magical humans I’ve ever encountered.”

Dipper felt overwhelmed all of a sudden. “Wow…uh…ok. That’s a lot to take in.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe I have that kind of power. So what…you just decided to take me in here and push my buttons to see what I was capable of?”

“More or less. I wanted to know if you were able to be consciously aware of using magic. Turns out you’re not. It’s part of your nature apparently. Like you were born doing it, but you just got the powers so that doesn’t make any sense. Latent magical abilities usually take years to develop and control. Plus, they’re normally not very strong until the user has a grasp of them. I’m trying to figure it out. By all means, you shouldn’t even be able to use the amount of power you have been.”

“So…so I’m really powerful?” Dipper stared at Bill in disbelief. He was having a hard enough time wrapping his head around the fact that he was magical. Now to add to it, he was super powerful. So much so that he could hurt someone if he wasn’t careful. “Wait…I thought you didn’t care about humans? Why do you care if I hurt anyone?” Dipper narrowed his eyes in scrutiny.

Bill didn’t have a straight forward answer for that, so he went with what he could understand. “I told you, I need this thing gone too. It’d be counterproductive if you put yourself out of commission because you couldn’t bare the crushing GUILT of killing another human.”

If Dipper didn’t know any better, he’d swear that was Bill’s way of saying he cared about how Dipper felt. But that notion was just ridiculous, so he brushed it aside. He looked over at Bill and noticed his skin was tinged pink from the flames earlier. His hair was also a lot shorter. Dipper felt terrible. He walked closer to Bill and gently traced his fingers along the top of Bill’s forehead where the skin was the pinkest. “Man…I really am sorry about that. I need to get this thing under control.”

Bill was frozen under Dipper’s touch. He didn’t know how to act. Dipper’s kindness baffled him and he didn’t understand how the boy had wormed his way into being on Bill’s list of ‘things not to kill’. He was always mindful of Bill and being caring towards him. It wasn’t necessary by Bill’s standards. He didn’t need someone to worry or fuss over him. After all, he’d made it this far without anyone to care for him. Why should now be any different? Still, he couldn’t help but have a little part of himself think it’s nice to have someone to worry over him. He really needed to stop hanging around humans so much. Their touchy feely emotions were rubbing off on him.

“Don’t worry about it Pine Tree.” Bill grabbed Dipper’s hand gently and lowered it away from himself. He raised his other hand and snapped his fingers. Bill’s vessel was back to normal after that, all signs of the flames gone. “See? Good as new. No need to make a fuss. I don’t know why you worry though. You can’t kill me. Well, you might be able to damage this body beyond repair, but it won’t kill me. I’ll just be sent back to the mindscape.” Bill shrugged. He had a strange urge to reassure the young man in front of him.

Dipper pouted. “That’s not the point Bill.” He hesitated for a moment, looking down before adding in a quiet voice, “Friends don’t hurt friends.”

Bill refused to acknowledge the feelings that statement garnered. He poked Dipper on the nose, choosing to ignore Dipper’s comment. “So, we definitely need to get that magic under control. Can’t have you burning down the whole forest now can we?”

Dipper was a little saddened by the fact that Bill had brushed off his statement but he figured he should be used to it by now. Bill is a demon after all. “Yeah…yeah I guess so. Can we go back now since your little test is over?”

“Sure thing, Pine Tree!” Bill grabbed a hold of Dipper again around the waist, same as before, though this time he didn’t dip him.

After they had reappeared in the room, Dipper glared at Bill, who had yet to relinquish his hold on him. “Do you have to do this every time you teleport me somewhere?” His voice was irritated.

Bill just grinned at him. “Of course I do! It makes you uncomfortable!” The demon laughed like a madman.

“UGH!” Dipper removed Bill’s arm and stomped off away from him. “Don’t make a habit of it.” He turned his attention away from Bill and scanned the room. It was devoid of anyone else. “Huh…wonder where the girls went…”

“They’re downstairs watching T.V. in Mabel’s room.”

Dipper glanced over at Bill. “How did you…you know what…never mind.” He’d momentarily forgotten that he was talking to an omniscient demon. “How long have we been gone anyway?”

“Two hours.”

“Two hours! What? But it didn’t feel that long!”

“Time is relative Pine Tree. It passes differently in different dimensions. Two hours here was ten minutes there. Try not to think too much about it. Your feeble human brain couldn’t handle the knowledge or hope to understand the concept.”

Dipper just rolled his eyes. The bit of information was good to know though, so he tucked it away to ponder later. “I’m going to go talk to them. Stay here and don’t get into any trouble. I mean it Bill.” He pointed his finger at the demon. “No trouble!”

Bill held up his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. I won’t cause too much trouble.”

“No! No trouble at all!”

“Fine!” Bill pouted and floated over to Dipper’s bed and threw himself face first onto it dramatically.

Dipper shook his head and headed down to Mabel’s room. He knocked on the door and waited for his sister’s call of ‘come in’. After hearing it, he let himself in and shut the door behind himself. The two women were staring at him expectantly, their expressions worried. “What?”

“Dipper! Where the hell did you go!? We were worried! Especially with how Bill carried you off! We thought he ran away with you to have his way with you or something!”

The color drained from Dipper’s face. “Mabel! Where do you even come up with this stuff!? He most certainly was not trying to whisk me away like one of your terrible romance novels!”

“Sure looked like it. His hands were all over you, man.” Wendy gave him a mocking smirk.

“Yeah, and you two just fit together so perfectly. It was just like a cheesy romance novel.” A giggle bubbled out of Mabel’s mouth.

“You two are unbelievable.” Dipper dead panned. “I disappear with a demon for two hours and you two’s first assumption is that we were off screwing somewhere. I hate you both.”

“No you don’t.” Mabel smiled brightly at him. “So what really happened? Why did Bill take you away from us?”

“He was testing my magic. And by testing my magic, I mean he pissed me off to the point that I ended up using it and set his head on fire. I’ll admit, that was pretty funny now that I look back at it. But he wanted to know if I was in control of my magic, I guess. Turns out I’m not. It’s emotional based right now. He poofed me away to another dimension so I wouldn’t destroy anything; as a safety precaution, you know.” Dipper shrugged.

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” She paused for a moment and then broke out in a grin. “Wait…you set his hair on fire?! I would have killed to see that.”

“Me too. I bet you totally freaked out about it.”

“I did not freak out! He’s an insufferable ass and he deserved it.” Dipper crossed his arms and scowled.

“Keep telling yourself that Dipdop. We both know that you’re not that cruel.” Mabel punched his arm playfully.

Dipper glared at his sister and rubbed his arm. “I might be…” She just gave him a look and he sighed in defeat. “Ok, fine. I may have been worried. But that’s not the point here. The point is, I have a demon in my bed right now and we need to figure out what we’re going to do with him.”

 Wendy and Mabel snickered again. “Oh, I’m sure he’s just waiting for you, not us. It is your bed after all.” Mabel couldn’t keep her giggles in as she said that.

Dipper stared at them in a mixture of disbelief and irritation. “I didn’t mean it that way and you two know it! Ugh!” Dipper threw his arms up in exasperation. “That’s it, I’m leaving. I’ll figure it out myself.”

Mabel reached out, laughter still bubbling from her lips and grabbed Dipper, halting his movements. “No! Wait, wait, wait. I’m sorry Dipper. I just…you make it too easy. Please don’t go though. Let’s talk.” She stifled her laughter.

Dipper studied her expression for a moment before conceding and turning back around. He walked over to Mabel’s bed and sat down. “Ok, so let’s talk then. Where is he going to stay? I mean, we can’t release him into the general public. But we don’t have a room to put him in here. How would we even explain who he is to our Grunkles? Ugh, we did not think this all the way through.” Dipper groaned.

“Um…well, if he can’t be with the general public, then he’s obviously got to stay here. I say he stays in your room. Hmmm…we could tell them that he’s a friend of yours that came to spend the summer up here and have him help out around the shack. That could work, right?” Mabel looked at Dipper hopefully.

“Won’t they recognize Bill though?” Wendy threw in.

“No, I don’t think they will. His voice is different in his human form. It’s deeper than the shrill voice of his demon form. I don’t think they’d figure it out. Well, at least not right away, if anything. But it’s too risky to let the Stans know he’s here. Grunkle Ford is just too paranoid. He’ll figure it out. Bill will have to stay hidden.” Dipper’s expression soured. “And I guess it’ll have to be in my room because there’s no way in hell I’m trusting him in here.”

“Pssh, like you’re really complaining about having to hide a totally hot guy in your room.” Mabel wiggled her eyebrows at Dipper.

“That’s it. I can’t live with you anymore. I hate you. I’m going to move away and you’ll never see me again.” Dipper said all this with a flat voice and his expression was flat as well.

Mabel just broke out laughing. “Oh, you couldn’t live without me Bro Bro.” She patted him on the back.

“Anyway…I guess since that’s settled, I’ll go tell Bill.” Dipper got up and walked towards the door, not bothering to spare his sister a glance. He knew he’d regret it anyway. She loved teasing him.

“Right-o Captain!” Mabel saluted Dipper, even though he wasn’t looking at her. “Have fun with your demon boyfriend.”

Dipper screamed internally and his shoulders tensed. He grabbed the nearest stuffed animal off of one of Mabel’s shelves and chucked it at her head. She dodged it and stuck her tongue out at him, giggling like crazy.

“Ugh!” Dipper shoved his hands in his pocket and left the room, shutting the door a little more forcefully than he probably should have. He couldn’t believe his sister sometimes. This was a very serious situation and she was in there making jokes. Unbelievable.

Wendy stared at the door after Dipper had left. “Wow, you really know how to get under his skin.”

“It’s because it’s true. He gets like that every time I hit the nail on the head.” Mabel frowned. “I hope he’s careful though. Bill isn’t really someone Dipper should put his trust in. But all I can do is believe in Dipper. That and I’ll find any way possible to beat the ever loving shit out of Bill if he hurts Dipper in any way.”

Wendy just nodded. She knew Mabel wasn’t lying. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on him. I don’t trust Bill for a second.”

 

* * *

 

 

When Dipper came back into his room, he found the demon was still in the same place he’d left him. He might have been concerned if it weren’t for the rise and fall of the insufferable being’s back. He walked over next to the bed and stared down at Bill. “Hey.” He waited a moment but he got no response from the triangle made human. “Bill, get your lazy butt up.” Dipper stared at him, perplexed. Did the demon actually fall asleep? Was that possible? He was human, technically, so it wasn’t outside of reason to think that Bill could have fallen asleep. “Alright you triangular pain in my ass, get up.” He poked the back of Bill’s head for good measure. The demon still hadn’t roused from his slumber. Dipper was getting irritated by this point. He started poking Bill’s sides, his back, and his cheek. Finally, Bill seemed to rejoin the world of the living and he groaned groggily.

“Ugh…what do you want Pine Tree? You’re being awfully annoying.”

“You fell asleep. I don’t know how, but you did.” Dipper shrugged.

“I slept? Huh…that explains the warped reality. You humans work in such weird ways. I’d be worried if my demon brain wasn’t still intact.” He turned over in bed to stare up at Dipper.

“I didn’t think you could sleep. I’m a bit surprised.”

“Hmm…well I can. But don’t expect me to drop my guard like that again. Wouldn’t want you slitting my throat in my sleep now would we?”

“I think you’re mistaking me for you.” Dipper lifted a brow, an amused smirk on his lips.

“You underestimate yourself Pine Tree.” Bill grinned at him. “You forget that I can see into the darkest parts of yourself.”

“I’m going to refuse to acknowledge that. I’m not psychotic like you. Anyway, I came up here for a reason. We decided that you’re going to have to stay here with us. But you can’t leave my room. It’d be too risky for either of the Stans to see you. Especially Grunkle Ford. I’m almost positive he’d know it was you.”

“You want me to stay locked up in your room?”

“Yes.”

“That’s kind of kinky isn’t it Pine Tree? Keeping me locked up in here, all to yourself. Should I start calling you master?”

Dipper’s eye twitched. He yanked his pillow out from underneath Bill’s head and smothered him with it. Bill was cackling like a madman, despite the fact that Dipper was trying to smother him with a pillow.

“See! You’re just proving my point, Pine Tree.” His voice was muffled but Dipper still heard what he said clearly.

Growling in frustration, Dipper removed the pillow and tossed it on the bed. He sat down on the edge and turned to look at Bill, whom was sitting up now. “Look, just don’t let my great uncles see you, ok? It could throw a wrench in our plans.”

Bill waved his hand. “Sure, sure.”

“Kids! Dinner!” they heard Stan yell from downstairs. Right afterwards, Dipper’s stomach growled reminding him of how late it had gotten in the day. It also reminded him how he hadn’t eaten lunch earlier due to his adventure into the forest for deer teeth.

“Well I guess that’s my cue. Stay in here and don’t cause any trouble.” He stared pointedly at Bill. Bill just rolled his eyes and laid back down on the bed. Dipper stopped at the door and as an afterthought, he said, “Do you need to eat? I can bring you back something.”

“Don’t worry about me Pine Tree. If I need something, I’ll just magic it into existence.”

“Right.” With that, Dipper left the room to trek downstairs. As he reached the bottom, the aroma of pizza wafted through the air and across his nose. He inhaled the pleasing scent and walked into the kitchen. Wendy and Mabel nodded to him in greeting as he took a seat at the table. He grabbed a paper plate and got himself a piece of sausage pizza. They ate in relative silence, enjoying their meal peacefully. After Dipper had eaten his fill, he stood and got rid of his trash.

“Well, I’m gonna turn in for the night. I’ll see you later Wendy. Night Grunkle Stan, Mabel.” When his gaze met Mabel’s, she gave him a teasing look. He glared at her in return. He knew exactly what she was thinking and he was about ready to strangle his sister. The teasing was just getting ridiculous.

Stan was oblivious to the exchange but Wendy had caught it and she smirked at Dipper. Dipper being alone with Bill still made her nervous, but she enjoyed teasing him, just as Mabel did. So she went along with the jest. “Night Dipper. Try to get some sleep.”

“Have fun,” Mabel supplied.

“You’re both going to die slow horrible deaths. I swear it.” Dipper grumbled as he left the kitchen. The sound of the girls giggling followed him out. He ignored them and went back upstairs. When he got back to his room, it was alarmingly empty. Dipper looked around frantically.

“Bill? Bill, I swear to god…you better not have left. Where the hell are you?”

Bill appeared right in front of his face, scaring Dipper half to death. He let out a girlish scream and backed away from Bill, his back hitting the door. “Don’t fucking do that, you shitty demon!” He came forward and punched Bill in the chest before brushing past him to sit at his desk. Bill just laughed jovially.

“Oh, it’s just too much fun to scare you. I didn’t go anywhere, for your information. I was invisible in case someone came into the room.”

“You liar. You were invisible so you could scare me.”

“You know me too well.” Bill floated over to Dipper and perched himself upon the desk. “So, tomorrow, we need to try to get you to get control over your magic. Practice makes perfect you know.”

Dipper hummed in agreement. “It’s not going to be easy is it?”

“Hmmm…well, I’m not going to lie. It will be a little difficult at first. But you seem to be a natural, so I’m sure you’ll figure it out in a respectable amount of time.” Bill made a casual show of inspecting his nails, except that it was a pointless gesture seeing as he was wearing gloves.

“Right. Thanks.” Dipper glanced at his bed. He was feeling rather sleepy now. A sudden train of thought hit him then. “Wait...where are you going to sleep?” He turned and looked at Bill. There were no longer two beds in the attic. Dipper had replaced Mabel’s bed with bookshelves when she moved to the room downstairs.

“Why, with you of course!” Bill grinned and patted Dipper on the shoulder.

“What?! No! You’re not sleeping with me!”

“Well you don’t expect me to sleep on the floor now do you? That would just be rude of you.”

“That’s exactly where I expect you to sleep.”

“Rude.”

“This can’t be my life now. I’m arguing with a demon about sleeping in my bed. I must be crazy.” Dipper rubbed his face.

“You’re talking to yourself too.”

“You’re not helping, Bill.” Dipper said through gritted teeth.

“I disagree.”

Dipper dropped his head to his desk and banged it on the surface a few times. This whole day had been terribly frustrating for him. First he gets attacked by a deer; then he summons a demon to give him a human body; then he gets teased by his sister and gets hell from the demon all day. Oh, and to top it all off, apparently his stupid mind and body thought the demon was attractive. He was ready for this day to be over.

Bill frowned. “Don’t do that Pine Tree. You might scramble what’s left of your brain. I kind of need that.”

Dipper ceased his movements and rolled his head to look at Bill. He was scowling at the demon. “Oh I’m sorry if my self-harm is inconvenient for you. After all, you’re not the one who has some psycho creature trying to kill you right? I’ve had a bit of a stressful day.”

Bill stared down at Dipper, calculating him. Without a word, he hopped down off the desk and walked around behind Dipper. He placed his on the middle of the man’s back, right between his shoulder blades. A soft blue glow emitted from his hand, startling Dipper out of his daze.  He glanced back at Bill curiously. Then he felt his muscles relax and most of the tension leave his body. It was soothing, and tingly. Dipper rested his head back on his desk. He felt ready to sleep now. But it also felt weird to him because Bill was the one doing it. A millennia old demon was essentially giving him a magical massage. He found it hard to wrap his mind around that fact. Bill finished what he was doing and retracted his hand.

“There, can’t have you stressing yourself to death. Now get in bed and sleep Pine Tree. We have a long day of magical practice to do tomorrow.”

Dipper decided he was too tired to really argue with Bill, so he climbed out of his chair and walked over to his bed. After pulling back the covers, he crawled in but didn’t cover himself yet. He looked over at Bill and swallowed, a little bit nervous. Dipper gestured to the mattress.

“Are you coming?”

Bill’s eyes seemed to widen a fraction and he grinned. He didn’t think that Dipper would actually let him sleep in the bed. He had been prepared to sleep in the desk chair or just flat out not sleep at all. The human inviting him into his bed was definitely a nice surprise, even if Bill thought it stupid of Dipper to trust him that much. Bill floated over to the bed instead of walking and laid himself down next to Dipper, facing him. He snapped his fingers and the light turned off. Bill felt Dipper shift around and then he felt the blanket being draped over the both of them. After his eyes adjusted, he could see the faint tint of red across Dipper’s nose right before Dipper turned himself over to face the wall. Right, humans had things like personal space and got all out of sorts when someone was in theirs. Oh well, he enjoyed making Dipper squirm so this new way to make him uncomfortable was a plus for him. He scooted close to Dipper and raised his head to whisper in Dipper’s ear, “Night Pine Tree.” Then he traced an unnaturally sharp finger down Dipper’s arm before turning to lay down himself.

Dipper laid there with eyes wide and his face was bright red. The touch had sent chills down his arm and the feeling went straight to his nether regions. Shit…he was fucked.


	6. Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this event happened sooner than I had originally planned it. But that just kind of where the story flowed to. I am so terribly sorry about the long gap since the last update. Life has been hectic and I just haven't had much time to write. This is the longest chapter yet and what I'm sure a lot of you were waiting for, so I hope that makes up for it. Enjoy!

**Chapter 6**

 

A bright flash woke Dipper up. He groggily opened up his eyes and tried to blink the world into focus. He saw a figure hovering over him holding a suspicious object. Once he was finally awake enough to see the person in front of him, he realized it was Mabel holding her camera. Dipper couldn’t figure out why she’d want a picture of him sleeping. Then he felt the body next to him shift and grumble and noticed the weight of said body’s arm draped across his waist. His eyes widened and he shot up quickly, though he wasn’t able to sit up all the way due to Bill’s arm. He stared down at Bill, who was just coming out of sleep, and then glanced at his sister. His face was a brilliant shade of red and he panicked.

“Delete that, or I swear I’ll break your camera Mabel!”

“Nope! It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up! You two looked so cute all cuddled up!” She giggled.

“No, no. There is nothing cute about this! Mabel, you better get rid of it!” He made to get out of his bed but the arm still around his waist kept him in place. Mabel went to flee the room when she saw Dipper move. “Get back here!” he yelled after her.

“I regret nothing!” Mabel said as she ran out the door, shutting it behind her. A few seconds later she opened the door and peeked her head inside. “Oh, and hurry up and get up. We’re going to meet with Pacifica at the new café in town!” She quickly shut the door again.

“Ugh!” Dipper threw himself back down on the mattress and rubbed his eyes.

“Why are you so noisy in the morning?” Bill’s voice was heavy with sleep as he frowned and squinted at Dipper.

Dipper turned to look at him and he quickly regretted it as the action put his face only about four inches from Bill’s face. Dipper blushed despite himself. “I’m not usually loud…” He frowned. “Nor am I usually sharing a bed with anyone for that matter,” he added as an afterthought. Dipper found himself staring into the golden orbs before him.

“Like what you see, Pine Tree?” Bill smirked at him, eyes lidded and giving off a smug air about him.

Dipper glared at him, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “I don’t. Now get out of my bed so I can get up. You’re coming with us. I’d be stupid to leave you here unsupervised.”

Bill groaned. “Ugh…not the Northwest girl. Their whole family sickens me.”

“Well you’re going to have to suck it up because Pacifica isn’t like her parents or the rest of her family. She’s our friend and you’re just going to have to deal with that fact. She’s been there when we needed her.” Dipper narrowed his eyes sternly at Bill.

“Kid…you’re lucky that I have a very slight liking for you…”

“Good. Glad we’re on the same page. Now remove your arm and get up already.”

“Pushy pushy, Pine Tree. You sound like my wife.”

Dipper sputtered and punched Bill on the shoulder. “I am in no way your wife you shitty demon!”

Bill burst out laughing while removing himself from the bed. “You’re just too easy kid.”

Dipper glared at Bill and threw a pillow at him. It hit Bill and fell to the floor. The demon just stared at Dipper, completely un-amused.

“Just get dressed you pain in the ass…” Dipper grumbled as he got out of bed and walked to his dresser. He pulled on a tank top and a pair of jeans, deciding he wasn’t going to care that the demon was in the room probably watching him undress. And it most certainly didn’t cause a slight shiver of excitement to run down his spine, thank you very much. When he was done, he turned to look at Bill, who was still standing there in his shorts that he’d worn to bed. Of course, the demon was staring at him. “What?”

Bill narrowed his eyes a fraction, seeming to be calculating something. “Hmm…nothing Pine Tree.” Bill snapped his fingers and he was again dressed in his extravagant outfit. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?” Bill went to walk out of the room.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Dipper rushed over and grabbed him by the arm. “You can’t just walk through the shack. My Grunkles will see you. Teleport yourself down into Mabel’s car and wait there.”

Bill rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. Have it your way Pine Tree.” A second later, the demon was gone leaving Dipper grasping at nothing.

Dipper sighed and left his room, walking downstairs. He was met with the sight of Mabel packing her purse up. “Ready to go sis?”

Mabel looked up at him. “Oh, yeah. Just packing a few things. Where’s Bill? You’re not leaving him here are you?”

“No! Of course not. I’m not crazy. I told him to teleport into your car and wait there.” Dipper shrugged.

“He’s in my car? He better not be messing with anything. Come on,” she walked towards the door, “we better get going. You know how Paz is about us being late.”

Dipper just chuckled softly. “Yeah, I know. Let’s get out of here.” He followed his sister out to her car. She pressed the remote on her keyfab to unlock the vehicle. He was a little worried when he didn’t see Bill at first but upon closer inspection, he saw that he was laying in the back. Well at least he was staying out of sight, as per Dipper’s request. He opened the door and sat down.

Mabel got in the car. After settling her stuff where she wanted it, which was in the floorboard where Dipper’s legs were, much to his dismay; she turned the car on. “Adventure!” Mabel yelled out as she threw the car into drive and started driving down the path to the main road.

“Mabel…we’re just going to the coffee shop.”

“I don’t care. Every day is an adventure Dipper!” She smiled at him.

Dipper just shook his head and smiled fondly at her. His sister was something special and he honestly wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world. At least one of them had to be upbeat and it certainly wasn’t Dipper. He stared out the window as they drove in silence. The silence disturbed him a little though because Bill was almost never silent. He glanced to the back seat to make sure he was even still there. The demon was still lying down and he hadn’t put a seatbelt on. Dipper supposed he didn’t need it though, really. He highly doubted a car crash would kill Bill. If anything, the demon would just poof himself out of the car before impact.

“Is there a reason you’re staring at me Pine Tree? I know I’m a gift to look at but it is rude to stare.”

Dipper blushed and quickly looked away. “I wasn’t staring at you, you jerk.”

Bill just smirked and went back to being silent. The rest of the car ride was spent like that. No one really felt the need to speak. About half-way there, Mabel got tired of the silence and started blaring more pop songs. Dipper wasn’t sure which was worse; the silence or the songs.

Soon, they found themselves in front of the coffee shop in town. It was in an older building but the front of the building had been redone to look nicer. It stood out among the rest of the shops in the strip. Much to Dipper’s distaste, it had a lame coffee oriented name. The Java Bean. How original. They walked into the place and Dipper was moderately impressed by the sleek, modern interior. They spotted Pacifica at a table to the side of the main walkway. She waved them over.

“Guys! Oh, it’s so good to see you! It’s been too long.” Pacifica greeted cheerily. Her eyes landed on Bill and she donned a confused look. “Who’s this?”

Before Dipper or Mabel could stop him, Bill said, “Names Bill! It’s not a pleasure to meet you again, Northwest.” Bill’s smile was downright malicious.

“Meet me again? I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Pacifica was really confused now and the creepy smile on the guys face was unsettling to her. She felt uneasy.

“Oh, I know you quite well, little bell.”

Pacifica tensed at the name. This guy couldn’t possibly know that about her. She didn’t think Mabel or Dipper would blab something like that. “Wh-what?”

Mabel elbowed Bill in the gut, causing him to grunt and bend over slightly. “Behave yourself you ass. Be nice to Pacifica or I’ll have my brother send you back where you came from.” She glared at Bill.

“Ugh…Shooting Star…you’re no fun.” She glared at him. “Alright already. I’ll stop. For now at least.” Bill sat down in one of the chairs at the table and crossed his arms.

Dipper sighed and rubbed his temples. “I thought I told you to behave? That was the opposite of behaving.” Bill just huffed and looked away from them all.

“Ok…someone needs to explain…like right now. I’m freaking out a little”

“Yeah…about that. You’re probably going to flip out a bit Paz. You see…well this is Bill Cipher.”

“I’m sorry…come again? Did you just say that the human sitting next to me is that freaky triangle asshole that gave you guys hell the first summer you were here?” Pacifica stared at Mabel, unbelievingly. Now she knew why she felt so uneasy around Bill. Then she turned to Dipper. “You did something stupid, didn’t you?”

“What?! No! And why are you blaming me?” Pacifica gave his a flat look. “Ok…fair point. But I didn’t do anything stupid. There’s actually this really bad creature in the forest and it needs to be gotten rid of…so I kind of asked Bill for help.”

“Wait…you asked him…did you make a deal with him? Because that would be really stupid Dipper!”

“I’m right here, you know…” Bill provided. Everyone ignored him.

“I did not make a deal with him!” And then in a much quieter voice he mumbled, “Bill and I are actually sort of friends…”

“You’re friends with him!? Did I really just hear that right?!” Pacifica gaped at Dipper incredulously.

“Yeah…he is. I didn’t like it at first either. But him and Bill are actually friends and well, Bill has stopped being so horrible since Dipper befriended him. So I guess it’s not all that bad. Though I wish Dipper would make some non-magical friends.”

“I have friends back home! I can’t help it if I don’t have any friends here. Bill’s been helpful to me over the years. Everyone always looks at me like I’m that weird guy that has issues. It’s not my fault that the only person that understands me is an ancient, all-knowing, dream demon.” Dipper crossed his arms petulantly.

“Ok…I’m gonna stop you there for a second because your level of cray cray is a bit much to take in at the moment.” Pacifica took a deep breath. “Ok…Dipper…hon…you know I care about you, but you have to realize how crazy you being friends with a demon is. I mean, he’s a demon. You can’t really trust him. What if he’s just using you?”

“Again…right here. Though she’s not wrong about the trust part. But you are wrong about the using him part, Little Bell. I may have done so in the past, but I wouldn’t use Pine Tree like that now. He’s too interesting.”

Dipper looked over to Bill, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. It was flattering that an ancient all-knowing being such as Bill thinks he’s interesting considering that said being has seen just about everything there is to see. “You think I’m interesting?”

“Of course I do, Pine Tree. Why else would I agree to help you and not just let this thing gobble you up?” Bill looked at him like that was the obvious answer. Dipper didn’t really know what to make of it.

“Ugh…gag. You two are nauseating to watch. Anywho…so this creature, it’s trying to destroy the forest? That’s really bad.” Pacifica frowned.

“Actually…I think it’s trying specifically to kill me…” Dipper said in a quiet voice. He knew Pacifica wasn’t going to react well to that.

“What?! Did I hear you right? This thing is trying to kill you? You can’t go back into the forest! That’s just crazy! Dipper, for once in your life, think about your safety. I know that’s hard for you considering you always get yourself into magical trouble…but come on! If this thing is so bad that you had to bring in jackass over here,” she pointed her thumb at Bill, whom glared at her, “what makes you think you can even go up against it? You’re just a human!”

“Actually, Pine Tree here is a very magical human. Though that seems to be a recent development. His magic isn’t refined yet.”

Pacifica glared at Bill and shrieked, “All the more reason to keep him away!!”

Mabel leaned over and whispered to her, “Paz…hun…you gotta keep your voice down. The other customers are looking at us all crazy like.”

Pacifica took a deep calming breath, closing her eyes and pushing her hands out like she was washing away the frustration. “Right…sorry. Just got a little worked up. Your idiot brother does that to me sometimes.”

“Oh, I know all about that. You don’t have to tell me.” Mabel laughed heartily.

“Look, Pacifica…I know the situation isn’t ideal, but this thing is bad. Bill here is helping me learn my magic. He’s also protecting me. Nothing is going to happen to me while he’s around. The forest called to me. It wanted my help specifically. There has to be a reason for that. I can’t just ignore it. You know…greater good and all that. You understand, right?”

Pacifica stared at him, calculating his words. She then turned to Mabel. “You’re ok with this?”

Mabel let out a drawn out sigh. “No…but you know how Dipper is. He’s all noble and self sacrificing. There’s not really much I can do about the situation and I can’t change his mind on it. You know how he gets.”

The blond nodded, letting out a resigned sigh. “Alright…well, it seems we’ve taken a trip to crazy town. Is there anything I can do to help? You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”

“No, I don’t really think there is. Maybe if I need help with supplies or something, down the road. But as of right now, you wouldn’t be able to help me with anything. Sorry.” He grinned sheepishly at her.

“Right…well if you do need anything, just let me know. I’ll get it in a heartbeat.” Pacifica gave Dipper a reassuring smile, then turned and glared at Bill. “And you! If anything happens to Dipper, I’m holding you personally responsible.”

Bill rolled his eyes and waved her off. “Oh, I’m quivering in fear.” He scoffed. “Relax Blondie. Dipper will be safe with me around. I happen to be rather attached to him. It’d be a shame if he kicked the proverbial bucket.”

“Look…right now, there’s not much we can do. I’ll just have to stay at the shack until it’s sorted out.” Dipper rubbed his neck. “Speaking of which…I’m a bit eager to get back there. Not that I don’t want to hang with you Pacifica…it’s just…well I’d like to get a start on my magic.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal, Dip. You go with Dorito over here. Mabes and I can catch up. Right, Mabel?” The blond smiled at Mabel.

“I am not a Dorito!” Bill squawked out. He was ignored, yet again.

“Of course! We can talk about boys and my new line of pet clothes!” Mabel grinned and bounced excitedly.

“Aaaannnd, that’s another reason I’m trying to get away,” Dipper teased.

Pacifica slapped him playfully on the arm. “Get out of here nerd. Try not to kill yourself.”

Dipper just laughed and stood, Bill following suit and standing as well. “Alright.” He looked over at the demon. “Teleport us home?”

“Finally! Of course.” He smiled at Mabel and glared at Pacifica before placing his arm around Dipper’s waist again and teleporting them back to the shack.

Dipper’s eyes were wide after they’d teleported and he looked up at Bill with a frantic expression. “I didn’t mean in the middle of the coffee shop! What if someone saw!? And damn it…didn’t I tell you not to make a habit of teleporting me places in that manner? You’re doing the exact opposite of what I told you to do!”

“I would never.” Bill laughed mischievously. “Relax, Pine Tree. No one was paying us any mind.”

“You don’t know that! It could have gotten back to my grunkles if someone saw. Just…don’t do that again. Wait until we’re in an alley or something.” Dipper rubbed his temples as he noticed Bill had teleported them out behind the shack. “Why are we out here? Also, I’d like to note that that was an odd feeling that I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to.”

“You’re so paranoid. It’s hilarious. We’re outside because we can’t very well practice magic in your room. That wouldn’t be practical. And you’ll get used to teleporting. You’ll be able to do it after all, without my help eventually. You’ve got the magical ability. But it takes a lot of practice so we won’t be trying it any time soon.”

“Right. So I guess we’re jumping right into it huh?”

“Yep!” Bill put his hands on his hips. “So, the first thing we’re gonna try is creating magical flames. Remember, you need to feel your magic. Learn to determine what its flow is and how it moves through your body. Your subconscious has been holding the reigns but now you want to take conscious control over it. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Reach for your magic.”

Dipper closed his eyes and took a deep breath as Bill had ordered. He wasn’t sure how well this was going to go. He just hoped that he didn’t end up burning Bill again, or worse, the shack. As he focused, he could feel a slight hum coursing through his body. _That must be my magic_. Dipper latched onto the feel and followed its flow with his mind’s eye. It felt empowering to know that all this magical energy was flowing through him. He had wanted magical abilities for so long that this felt almost like a pipe dream that his mind had come up with and he feared he’d wake from it. After following the flow for a while, he tested the waters by trying to draw it out. Nothing happened at first. The magic wasn’t obeying his will and it was a bit vexing. He just needed to focus more. Dipper lifted his hand, palm up, out in front of himself and concentrated on a point in the center. He imagined flames and he could feel his magic starting to respond. Opening his eyes, he stared in wonder at the small green flame in his palm. It wasn’t hot at all. In fact, had he not been looking at it with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t even have known it was there.

“Wow…I did it…”

“That you did. You’re a natural, Pine Tree.” Bill smiled at him. “Now make it grow.”

“Ok.”

Dipper concentrated on making the flame bigger. It grew minutely but Dipper wasn’t discouraged and pressed on. He was determined to get this down. The flame then started growing exponentially and Dipper panicked. He wasn’t quite sure how to stop it. Dipper’s whole arm was enshrouded with the green flames now.

“Too much! Too much! Oh crap!” He started flailing his arm around in hopes of extinguishing the flame. He could hear Bill snickering at the display but he was too panicked to chide him at the moment.

“Pine Tree! Calm down. Your flames can’t hurt you; only other things or people.”

The words managed to cut through Dipper’s panic and he stopped flailing around like a fish on land. Once he’d stopped moving, he noticed that surprisingly enough, he didn’t feel any heat from the flames.

“Oh. That would have been nice to know before we started you jackass.” Dipper glared at Bill.

“It would have…but where would be the fun in that? I enjoy it when you run about like a madman. It’s quite amusing.” Bill smirked at Dipper.

“Don’t make me set your head on fire again. I might not feel bad about it this time.”

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

“Shut up. Can we just continue?”

“Go right ahead Pine Tree.”

Dipper had managed to maintain the flames through the whole conversation and found that the sensation of them was rather calming. He let the fire grow until it enveloped every part of his body, save for his feet. He didn’t want to set the ground on fire.

Bill watched him studiously. He was impressed by Dipper’s abilities. The demon had watched humans since they began and he’d never seen someone take to magic as quickly as Dipper had. The young man’s affinity for magic seemed to be more than just human, but Bill just brushed it off as natural talent. After all, Dipper was human. He wouldn’t have any god-like powers. Still though, there was definitely something special about the human’s magic and Bill was intrigued by it. He could see it flowing through Dipper’s body. The sight was entrancing and Bill found himself enthralled by it. So much so that he didn’t hear Dipper talking to him until the man was right in front of him.

“Huh?”

Dipper sighed and crossed his arms. “You weren’t listening to me were you?”

“I was! I…ok, no I wasn’t. I got distracted.”

“Distracted? By what? You’re supposed to be helping me Bill.” Dipper put his hands on his hips and stared at Bill expectantly.

The demon glared at him. “By you and your stupid magic. I can see it flowing through your body and it’s…well it’s beautiful, to be honest. Magical energy is a purely wonderful thing to watch. Don’t read too much into it though.”

Dipper faltered in his anger. He expected Bill to be rude and crass with him, but actually admiring something about him? It was off-putting. The brunette felt a mixture of flattery and confusion and a confused frown took over his features. “I uh…I don’t know how to respond to that.”

Bill just rolled his eyes and waved Dipper off. “Of course you wouldn’t. You never even had magic before.” The demon turned back to the human and paused. He hadn’t noticed it before, but Dipper was still enshrouded in his green flames. They were undulating calmly around Dipper, creating a soft glow and giving the young man an almost ethereal glow. The vision of him was breathtaking and Bill felt a knot in his chest when he looked at Dipper. The sensation confused him. He wasn’t sure what to make of the feeling. Sure, he’d found beauty in various creatures throughout his long life span but never in a human. Humans were lowly creatures. This simple mortal shouldn’t be capturing his interest so fully. What was so different about Dipper? Bill couldn’t fathom why and if there was one thing he truly detested, it was not knowing something. His irritation rose and he suddenly didn’t feel much like being around Dipper. “I think we’re done for the day.”

“Huh? But we just got started!” Dipper extinguished the flames around him and walked over to Bill, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The action only seemed to exacerbate the demon further. He shrugged off Dipper’s hand and glared at him. “I don’t feel like doing anymore! Go bug Ford or something!” Bill snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving a very confused Dipper standing in the open yard behind the Shack.

“Fucking demon!” Dipper growled in frustration. How was he supposed to learn magic if Bill was gone? What the hell was up with the demon’s mood swing anyway? Dipper rubbed his face in irritation. Bill was infuriating sometimes. It’s times like these that make Dipper question why he was friends with a temperamental immortal demon. He let out a sigh. “Well what do I do now? I don’t feel like going inside yet.” He looked around. It was about mid-day by now and still light out. Dipper stared into the forest and thought about going in. It was daytime after-all and while the creature could find a forest resident to send after him, he felt secure enough to defend himself now that he knew he had magic. With that thought in mind, Dipper took a deep breath and ventured into the forest.

A little distance away, Bill was sitting in a clearing in the forest staring out into the shadows of the forest. A torrent of wind was whirling around him, kicking up leaves and twigs. It was a toned down sign of his irritation. “Damn human and his magic. Why couldn’t things just stay the way they were meant to? It was so much simpler when he was just human. No confusing thoughts, no….ugh…admiration. I’m not supposed to feel attached to a human!” The demon’s eyes flared yellow.” His anger was halted by a deep chuckling voice though.

“It is terribly frustrating, isn’t it? To have attachments to something so lowly,” the voice purred.

Bill’s eyes widened and then narrowed into a glare. He hadn’t even sensed this thing approach. How could he have been so lost in his anger that he didn’t even notice? The thing sitting about 20 feet from him was a chimera. The head was a dragon and the body was that of a deer while its feet were paws of a wolf. There were two black wings folded neatly on its back. The tail of the beast was long and snake-like. Something was off about its voice too. Almost like it was two voices talking. Bill had a sneaking suspicion that the chimera in front of him was controlled by the beast trying to kill Dipper. He chose not to acknowledge the statement. “What do you want Beast?”

“Oh…you know what I want, Cipher.”

“Good, you know who I am. Then you know what I’m capable of.” Bill glared coldly at the beast.

The beast sneered in disgust at Bill. “Yes, I’m fully aware of what you’re capable of. And also, the fact that you’re stronger than me.” The beast’s sneer turned into a feral grin. “Well, in the mindscape that is. Here, you’re mortal and bound by the limitations of this world.” The beast got up from its sitting position and took a few steps forward. “And I can’t have you getting in the way of what I want.”

Bill didn’t like where this was going one bit. He was certain he could kill the chimera with ease by itself but he wasn’t too sure what facing it would be like when it was laced with the creature’s power. His normal confidence faltered slightly because he really didn’t know what the creature was capable of and he was questioning whether or not he really was weaker here than in the mindscape. _Fuck._ He needed to get out of this situation quickly. He went to teleport out but found that the spell wasn’t working. “What the…”

“Oh, don’t try to teleport away. I’ve put up a ward. You really should have been paying better attention.”

The chimera was closing the distance quickly and Bill got up hurriedly, turning and sprinting towards the forest in hopes of getting to a point where he could teleport. Coming in here was a really bad idea. The chimera was hot on his heels and gaining. His human body just couldn’t outrun the galloping gait of the beast chasing him. “Shit” This was going to get ugly, fast.  The beast took a swipe at him and he narrowly escaped it by jumping to the side. A split second later, he launched a blast of magic towards the creature. It howled in pain and then turned towards Bill, a look of complete fury encompassing its face.

“Get back here you foul creature! I will not be satisfied until your blood paints the forest floor red!” The beast let out a harrowing howl of rage.

“Sorry beasty, but the blood of this body is staying in it. Kind of need that you know. “

Bill had taken to running again. The beast recovered and went after him. It made another swipe at him and this time, the strike hit along Bill’s back, tearing through his clothes and leaving a gash on him. Bill cried out in pain and ran into a nearby tree. It threw him off his path and he stumbled to the left, venturing into another clearing. Much to Bill’s surprise and chagrin, Dipper happened to be in that clearing. What the hell was he doing in the forest?! Bill froze as he spotted him and turned to look back at the edge of the clearing where he’d just burst through.

Dipper had been practicing trying to levitate things when he’d heard the bone chilling howl. He had started to panic and then he had heard what sounded like Bill crying out. He was really hoping it wasn't, but it had made his anxiety skyrocket and his worry grow. When he saw Bill burst into the clearing, his panic just intensified. The frantic look on Bill’s face wasn’t helping either.

“Dipper! You fucking idiot! What the hell are you doing in the forest?!” Bill yelled at him as he had started quickly moving backwards towards Dipper, never taking his eyes off the forest. Moments later, the creature crashed into the clearing.

“Oh shit! Bill! What the hell is that? Fuck! You’re bleeding too!”

“No time to worry about that! It’s a chimera and it’s being controlled by the creature!”

“Can’t you just kill it?!”

“I don’t know! I’m limited by this mortal body! It can technically kill me!”

Dipper gripped his hands in his hair. “What are we going to do? Fuck…I shouldn’t have been in the forest. Now we’re both going to be killed!”

“You’re damn right you shouldn’t have been in the forest, you imbecile. What were you thinking? You’re just a fledgling with your magic!” Bill had reached Dipper at this point and he stood between him and the beast.

“I thought I could use it to defend myself. Hell, I’m sorry Bill. Maybe we can work together to kill it?”

“Oh look, it appears to be a lovers spat.” The beast chuckled darkly, grabbing both Bill and Dipper’s attention. “This makes things so much easier. I hadn’t noticed the boy had entered the forest because I was so focused on you but it seems you’ve inadvertently led me right to him. How delightful.” The feral grin was back. “I’m going to beat you into a bloody pulp Cipher and I’m going to make him watch. Then, when you’re begging for your life, I’m going to kill him right in front of you and leave you to suffer.”

The words confused Bill. Why would the creature think that Dipper’s death would cause him so much grief? While he did care about the human, there wasn’t any more there than simple friendship and a general interest. He glanced at Dipper out of the corner of his eye and the human looked horrified. Perhaps he would be deeply affected by Bill being hurt. Humans were caring creatures by nature after all. Bill turned his attention fully back to the beast. “You’re welcome to try, foul beast.” Bill’s hands lit up in blue flames and he took a defensive stance.

“Oh, I will succeed.” The chimera started walking towards Bill.

Suddenly, the forest floor seemed to come alive under them. It knocked Dipper off his feet and black gnarled roots grew up around him, latching onto his limbs and dragging him to the ground. He yelped and grunted as he hit the ground.

Bill whipped around at the sound. “Dipper!”

Dipper stared at him helplessly. Then his eyes widened. “Bill! Behind you!”

“Your eyes should be on me, Cipher.” The beast was right behind Bill. Just as Bill turned to look at it, a heavy paw swept out and hit the demon, sending him flying across the clearing. Bill crashed through shrubs and a few small trees before hitting a larger one, halting his movement. He fell to the ground in a coughing heap, trying to get his bearings back. The demon looked up, a pure rage of fire in his eyes. This creature was really starting to piss him off. He spit out some blood as he stood and glare menacingly at the chimera. The beast moved alarmingly close to Dipper and it had Bill instantly breaking out into a run.

“You better not touch him!”

Bill was engulfed in his blue flames now as he sprinted forward at full speed. Horror set in his eyes as he saw the creature lift its unnaturally sharp claws to prepare for a strike on Dipper. Panicked, Bill felt a surge of adrenaline hit him and he covered the last bit of distance as the chimera’s paw came down. He threw himself in front of Dipper and the claws tore into his flesh, leaving deep gashes in their wake. Bill screamed and collapsed on the ground, gasping and clutching his wounds. Blood spilled on the earth at an alarming rate. Dipper cried out and tried to reach Bill, but the branched kept him incapacitated.

“See? Your blood did paint the ground red after all.” The beast let out a maniacal chuckle.

Dipper stared at Bill, tears filling his eyes. “Bill…no…no, you can’t die. You’re immortal. You…you can’t leave me…” Dipper started to feel rage seeping into him. This beast had come and taken the one friend he had. The one being that understood him aside from his sister. The one being that mirrored him. He couldn’t lose Bill. He just couldn’t. His breath became heavy and the ground started to shake around him. The beast stopped its laughter, surprised by the sudden change. It looked down at Dipper and watched him. When Dipper looked back up at the creature, his eyes were glowing completely green and the wind had picked up around him. It startled the beast. “You…you despicable creature. You’ll pay for this.” The earth cracked around where Dipper was and his body was once again engulfed in green flames. The roots around him burned to ashes and Dipper stood up. The forest seemed to come alive around him. Vines moved with him as he walked towards the beast. The earth quaked with his steps and howls of other forest inhabitants rose through the air as if answering to a long awaited call. The trees groaned as they swayed and the grass seemed to ripple around them.

Bill looked up from the ground and watched Dipper in awe. Where had all this magical power come from? He took in the scene around him. Dipper was pushing out a magical force much too strong for a human and the forest seemed to be reacting to him. No…reacting wasn’t the right word. The forest was answering to him. The pieces started to click into place. Why Bill was drawn to Dipper. Why he always found him interesting. Why he was the one thing on this miserable plane of existence that he would absolutely never harm. Dipper was The Keeper of the Forest and he was Bill Cipher’s soul mate. The revelation shocked Bill. He couldn’t believe it. A lowly human was his soul mate? This couldn’t be right. This must have been some cruel joke. He was the all powerful Bill Cipher! He couldn’t have a mortal human soul mate! But deny it as he may, he knew it was true. He could see the thread of light that linked their souls and he could feel the connection. He knew that once Dipper wasn’t in a magical trance anymore, that he’d feel it too. He was in such a state of shock that all he could do was watch Dipper use the forest to trap the beast.

“You die now,” Dipper said as he reached the chimera. There was a savagery to his voice that wasn’t normally there. He snapped his fingers and the beast was swallowed by green flames. It let out an ear piercing scream as it writhed in pain. Dipper willed the roots to pull the creature apart, limb by limb. Blood sprayed the surrounding area, including Dipper. The creature’s hold on the chimera was long gone and all that was left was a bloody corpse tangled up in roots. The green flames were still burning but they weren’t hurting the roots. Dipper extinguished them and when he did, the trance broke and the forest settled down around him. He collapsed on the ground, his eyes turning back to their normal state and he felt drained. There was an odd tug of something deep within him. He could feel the forest completely now. Every tree, every creature, every blade of grass and every root. He could feel where it stopped, where the water was, where the hills and mountains were. It was a little disorienting at first. But that’s not what the tug he was feeling was. It was leading to a direction a few feet from him. He turned and saw Bill, who was staring at him in shock. The demon had mostly healed himself by this point, which was a relief to Dipper. But the reason for the pull suddenly hit him like a freight train.

“Oh my god…you’re…we’re…we’re…”

“Yep. We’re soulmates.” Bill laughed bitterly. Bill didn’t give Dipper time to process anything as he teleported them out of the forest.

It Dipper took a second to realize that he was back in his room at the shack. When he turned to question Bill, he was met with nothing. He was alone in his room. For the second time that day, the demon had left him and that thought broke him as he collapsed to the floor and cried.

 

* * *

 

 

**This is what Pacifica looks like.**

                                                 [](http://s1312.photobucket.com/user/tumblywumbly/media/OlderPacifica_zps4ghahlm1.png.html)


	7. The Path to Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm terribly sorry it took me so long to get this to your guys. My computer crashed, and then my job got me busy and my life has just been busy. But then I lost my job and things got more hectic. Just ugh. Things calmed down and I've had some time to write, so now I present you with this beast of a chapter. It's the longest one so far. I hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter 7**

 

Blue flames lit up the night sky as they enveloped everything in sight. The forest of this world was burning to ashes, soon to be nothing more than a whispered memory. Bill watched with dulled eyes as everything was destroyed. He had come to another dimension to release his anger because he didn’t feel right doing it in Dipper’s dimension. The demon was enraged, confused and lamenting his lot in life. He’d spent millions of years alone, with no need for a soulmate. He was content; happy even. He never wanted one nor cared to even give it thought. But when that prophet came to him, it threw everything off. He began to doubt…to question his lack of a soultmate. Thoughts of what could be started playing through his head and it consumed his thoughts. So he believed the prophet and gave it a shot. After all, what’s a few millennia to an immortal being? But never in his long existence did he ever for a second think that his soulmate would be a simple human being. It was mind boggling and infuriating. All of the other beings in the universe had corresponding mates. Demons with demons. Humans with humans. You get the picture. This had to be a cruel twist of fate that only he was dealt. Humans were beneath him. There was nothing special about them except for perhaps their force of will. Bill felt offended that the universe hadn’t given him a being of the same caliber as him as his soulmate. So here he was, burning down a forest in some other dimension because despite his outrage, he could never bring himself to destroy the dimension in which his soulmate lived. Bill couldn’t ignore the fact that even before he knew Dipper was his soulmate, the young man had been special to him. So when he was done watching this world burn, he’d return to the other dimension to watch over Dipper. He refused to do anything more because he feared that if he got too attached, he wouldn’t be able to bear it when Dipper eventually passed. Watching over him and guarding him would have to do. Bill closed his eyes and listened to the world die.

 

* * *

 

  
Dipper sniffled and looked around his room. It felt empty without Bill’s presence. He missed his friend but he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the Bill Cipher was his soulmate. He needed some space to think. Though it hurt terribly, it was probably best that Bill hadn’t come back with him. Of all the beings or people in the universe, fate had to stick him with a demon? He felt like his life had been one big joke to the universe by this point. He had very little real friends back home; only his sister as a best friend and his only real friends were magical creatures that most people would call him crazy for saying exist. On top of that, his one true friend was an egotistical dream demon. He glanced at his clock and realized that he’d been crying for a good thirty minutes now. He threw off his clothes in a fit and put on clean ones. He just hoped that the blood from the creature wasn’t on his face. The young man walked to the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. Yep…on his face. Damn it. He angrily scrubbed the blood off and dried his face. Afterwards, he shuffled back into his room. He was just ready for this day to be over. It was night time and Dipper wondered if Mabel was home yet. He flopped down on his bed and let out a heaving sigh. This day had not gone the way he thought it would. It started of good and hell, he’d had fun practicing magic. But he just had to go in the forest like the idiot he was. Now Bill had disappeared and he felt like his other half was missing.

“God, I’m such an idiot. Why didn’t I see it sooner?” Dipper growled in frustration. “Oh right, because the universe likes to give us specific moments to figure this stuff out. That was the wrong fucking moment universe!” he yelled out.

“Kid? Are you talking to yourself up there? Because I won’t judge the crazy. Just try to keep it down,” he heard Stan yell from downstairs. Apparently he’d heard him yelling at the universe.

Dipper smacked his forehead with his hand. “Sorry!” he yelled back. The brunette turned on his side and stared at nothing in particular. “Ugh…I hate my life,” he grumbled. “Maybe I should text Mabel…” He picked up his phone and shot her a quick text asking if she was home. He didn’t get a response right away, which was unusual for Mabel. He was about to call her when he found out the reason why she didn’t respond; and that reason was her bursting into his room loudly. Dipper just about jumped a foot off the bed as he shot up. He really should be used to her doing things like this by now.

“Yes, I am here dear broski!” she yelled as she threw open the door. It slammed loudly on the wall and Stan yelled at her from downstairs, grumbling about damned hyper youngsters. “Sorry Grunkle Stan!” she called out and then shut the door quietly. The female twin turned to her brother and grinned at him. “So how did…” her sentence stopped short when she saw Dipper’s red rimmed eyes. “Dip dip? Why have you been crying? What happened?”

Dipper broke into more tears when she asked that. He never could keep his emotions from her. Mabel rushed to his side and sat down next to him, patting his back in a comforting manner. “Shh…tell me what happened.”

“Bill and I were practicing magic…and things were going good,” he hiccupped, “but we got into an argument and he left. I…I didn’t want to stop practicing. So I stupidly went into the forest.”

Mabel gasped. “Dipper! You didn’t! You could have been killed! What the hell were you thinking?”

Dipper winced at her scolding words. “I wasn’t. The place has always calmed me. I thought it would help me think. I didn’t go that far in. It was all fine, until I heard Bill screaming. There was a chimera chasing him. It was trying to kill him Mabel. It almost did.”

“Oh my god! What happened?” She stared at her brother, mortified by the turn of events.

“That thing damn near ripped him in two. It was being controlled by the beast and it was trying to get rid of Bill so that it could get to me. I…when I saw what it had done, I just snapped. Bill’s been my only real friend besides you. I thought I had lost him. And then something strange happened. The forest it….well it was listening to me. I was controlling it; commanding it to do my bidding. My whole body was encased in green flames. I could feel everything around me. I could feel every single bit of the forest like it was a part of me. It spoke to me. I snared the beast with roots, set it on fire, and then tore it apart, limb for limb. It was gory, and horrible and I don’t know what came over me.” Dipper sobbed as he rested his head on Mabel’s shoulder.

Mabel ran her fingers through his hair soothingly. “Dipper, you acted on instinct. You were trying to protect Bill. Don’t beat yourself up because you had to kill something.”

Dipper laughed bitterly. “That’s not even the worst part.”

Mabel looked down at him in surprise. “What could be worse than ripping something to pieces?”

He sobbed and shook his head. “After I’d snapped out of it…I felt a connection. Bill is my soulmate Mabel. And when we both realized it, he teleported me back here and disappeared. I haven’t seen him since.”

Mabel was shocked. Did she really just hear that right? Bill Cipher, the dream demon that had tormented them when they were younger was her brother’s soul mate? That couldn’t be right. They weren’t even the same type. Bill was a demon. Dipper was human. It didn’t make any sense to her. “What? I…did I hear you right?” Dipper nodded. “So…um…are you sure? Because that seems like a cruel twist of fate to me. The universe would have had to be on wacky juice or something.”

“Ugh! Of course I’m sure. Do you really think I’d be in here crying like this if I wasn’t?” He pulled away from her and gave her a frustrated look.

Mabel held up her hands defensively. “Ok, ok, you’re sure.” She dropped her hands and stared at Dipper. Man, the universe sure does seem to like to pick on her brother. “So what are you going to do now? And you know what? I’m going to kick that triangular jerk’s dumb face in. How dare he run off on you after something like that is revealed.” She puffed out her cheeks and frowned.

Dipper smiled at his sister. At least he knew he could always depend on her. “I think I might just kick his ass too. I am magical now.”

“You should. He’s being dumb. He should be here with you. You were just attacked for crying out loud!” Mabel waved her arms in the air frantically. She took a deep breath. “Ok, so let’s recount things. Bill is your soulmate. You can feel the forest and make it do what you want now because you’re magical for some reason. So are you like…the forest’s keeper or something? I mean, I’ve heard of guardian spirits before. Maybe the universe decided you’re one of them? I don’t know. This whole magic mumbo jumbo always gets me all confused.” She stuck out her tongue in concentration and then her face lit up. “Oh! That must have been why you heard the forest calling to you and why your big dumb forehead was glowing!”

Dipper stared at her, deadpan. “Yes, thank you for that.” He rolled his eyes. “All those things would make sense if I wasn’t, you know, human. Every guardian spirit I’ve ever heard of was some type of magical being or an immortal being. Not one single human in the bunch. What the hell makes me so special?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with your birthmark? The universe is weird like that sometimes. You could have just been born at the exact right moment and been like, one of those ‘child of destiny’ people. You might have some celestial link to the universe for all we know.” She shrugged.

“Man…none of this makes sense. I need to talk to Ford and see if he’s ever heard of something like this before. I’m gonna leave out the soulmate part though. I don’t think he’d react kindly to that at all.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” Mabel nodded. She knew very well that Ford would probably lock Dipper up if he knew.

“I’m not talking to him tonight though. I’ve had a trying enough day. I think I just want to sleep now. We can figure the rest out tomorrow.” Dipper sighed.

Mabel couldn’t help but agree. She knew he had to be exhausted by this point. But she felt she had to ask one more thing. “So, you mentioned earlier that you could feel the forest. Can you feel it right now? Is it going to be like…an all the time thing?”

“Yeah, I can feel it right now. I’ve felt it since it happened. It’s not even like a sense; it’s more like…it’s just an extension of me, if that makes any sense.” He frowned and titled his head in thought.

“It does. But…what I really want to know…is if you can feel the creature. It’s in the forest right? The thing is not going to be able to track you right? Or get to you somehow because of it?”

Dipper’s stomach dropped. He could definitely feel where the thing was and the feeling was unsettling. It was almost overbearing when he first felt it but the sensation had ebbed along with the feeling of the rest of the forest. Now it was like a hum in the back of his mind. “Yeah, I feel it. It’s not happy about that either.”

“Well good, then we have a bit of an advantage. You’ll at least know when it’s coming.” Mabel liked to hang on to the small victories. The matter of Bill definitely needed to be addressed but the creature not being able to sneak up on Dipper was plus out of this whole mess of a situation.

“Yeah, there’s that. Tactical purposes and all that. I think my magic is way stronger now.” Dipper’s expression fell. “But I have no idea how to harness it and use it. I could really use Bill’s help right now.” Dipper fell quiet and stared sadly down at his fidgeting hands.

“Oooh, I’m so gonna wring his neck.” Mabel huffed. “Look, Bro Bro, we’ll get through this. We always do, right? We’re the mystery twins! I bet you once you figure out your magic that you can totally kick this things ass!” She smiled brightly at him.

Dipper smiled weakly at her. One of the things he loved about Mabel was her never ending optimism. “Thanks, Sis.”  
Mabel gathered him into a tight hug, squeezing the air out of him. “Get some sleep, Dip Dop.” She let him go and then stood up, walking towards the door. She stopped to smile and saluted him.

“Night Mabel.” Dipper nodded at her and laid down on his bed again after she had shut the door. He released a heavy breath and once again took up staring at the ceiling. What even was his life at this point? “Better try to sleep.” He turned to his side, turned off the bedside lamp and then snuggled down into his covers. The exhaustion of the day caught up to him and he felt his eyes grow heavy. Soon after, he was fast asleep and unaware of the invisible demon watching him from across the room.

“You’ll get over me, Dipper.” Bill whispered and teleported out of the room.

 

* * *

 

  
The next morning, Dipper groggily rolled out of bed. He hadn’t been able to sleep well. Nightmares involving the encounter he’d had yesterday plagued his mind. Most of the night had been spent tossing and turning. The brunette glanced over at his alarm clock. It read six thirty a.m. “Great…so much for getting sleep.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and decided he probably wasn’t going to accomplish getting any more sleep so he might as well get up for the day. Ford was most likely awake anyway and he really needed to talk to him. This whole situation was a mess and he couldn’t make any sense of it. Hopefully his grunkle would have some answers.

Dipper walked over to his dresser and pulled out a black pair of denim shorts and some underwear. He figured a shower was in order since he hadn’t taken one last night. He stopped by his closet and pulled out a gray tank top and headed towards the bathroom. After locking the door and placing his clothes on the counter, he braced his arms on the counter and stared at his reflection. Ok, so he looked like shit this morning. Nothing new really, but you could tell just by looking at him that something was really wrong. Dipper sighed and glared at himself in the mirror.

“You’re always causing trouble and your life is a mess..” he spat angrily at his reflection. He saw the air crackle with magic around him and his eyes widened. Ok, so maybe he was going to have to watch his temper from now on. His magic seemed to react to his mood. That could be dangerous. “Could my life get any more complicated? Ugh.”

Dipper turned around and started the shower. After it’d warmed up, he stepped in and let the water just wash over him. He tried to calm the torrential downpour of thoughts but it was difficult. He always over-thought or over-analyzed things and this situation just brought on more questions than he could possibly have answers for. The only bright side to the whole thing was that the creature would most like back off for a little while because it had to develop a new strategy to contend with Dipper’s new status and powers. That should buy him some time to think about what the hell he was going to do now.

Unintentionally, his thoughts drifted to Bill. That damned, triangle demon. He felt a wave of contempt rise up through him. This was all his fault somehow. The feeling left him, because he knew logically, it wasn’t Bill’s fault. Even the all powerful demon didn’t have control over fate. Dipper’s mood dropped and he felt like crying again. Why did he miss that selfish bastard? He ran off when he found out. Color him wrong, but that isn’t the reaction you’re supposed to have when you find out who your soulmate is right? Bill’s face flashed through Dipper’s mind. His heart clenched and he laughed bitterly at it. Dipper’s mind decided it was going to torment him further by not stopping at just showing him his face. It panned down past his head, to his neck, down his torso and to his hips. His mind was imagining him there in the shower with him, dripping went and skin glistening. Dipper’s eyes snapped open and he felt that a certain part of him had stirred awake. “Fuck. No, no. We are not going there, brain. You stop that right now. We’re mad at him.” Dipper shook his head and rubbed his eyes forcefully.

Ignoring the calling of his stiff member, he decided to start washing his hair in hopes that it’d go away. By the time he’d finished and moved on to his body, it had gone down. Ok, crisis averted. He certainly wasn’t going to give Bill the satisfaction of having done that while thinking about him. Even though the demon wasn’t present, he knew that he would just know somehow whenever he saw him again and Dipper was pretty sure he’d be mortified. Damn that demon and his attractive body.

After he’d finished his shower and gotten dressed, he made his way down to Ford’s lab. As he approached the door, he could see the lights on inside through the cracks and he could hear the soft hum of the many machines Ford had down there. Good, that meant that his earlier assumption was correct. Gently, he rapped on the door and waited for an answer.

“Come in!” he heard Ford say from the other side of the door.

Dipper turned the knob and make his way inside the first room of Ford’s lab. His grunkle was sitting at his desk writing something down in a notebook. It was probably research for something he was working on and that peaked Dipper’s curiosity but he decided not to ask. It’s not what he came in here for.

Ford turned to look up at him. “Dipper, my boy. What on earth are you doing up this early? Is something wrong?” Ford’s brows furrowed as he studied Dipper’s face. He noted the bags under his eyes and the overall tired look about him. “Is that creature bothering you again? I can look into upping the barrier.”

Dipper shook his head. “No…no it’s not that. It’s…well I don’t know if I can call it worse. It’s certainly more important. Well, at least I think it is.” Dipper walked over to Ford’s desk and hopped up onto it to sit. He sighed and his face drew into one of hesitation.

“Well don’t keep an old man waiting. Out with it. What could be more ground-breaking than that beast coming after you?” Ford urged.

Dipper sat there for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should tell Ford about Bill. He knew that he’d told Mabel last night that there was no way in hell he was going to tell him, but this situation kind of called for it. After all, how was he supposed to explain to Ford that he had become friends with Bill Cipher, had learned he was very magical, and that his powers as the apparent Keeper of the Forest came into fruition by way of defending his soulmate who, by the way, WAS BILL CIPHER if he didn’t’ bring up Bill? The demon was kind of a key point in the story. He was already regretting coming in here. He most certainly was not ready for this conversation seeing as he was just getting used to the idea himself. But, he was already here and he’d already started talking so he might as well dive right into the heart of things.

“Hell, I don’t know where to begin. Some of this story is…um…well you’re not going to like it…but um…I kind of have to tell you to explain it fully.”

“That’s a concerning way to start off the conversation, Dipper.” Ford was immediately worried and feared the worse. “Bill’s involved…isn’t he? What did you do?”

Dipper recoiled back. Damn his uncle being smart enough to hit the nail right on the damn head. He felt a wave of nervousness wash over him and he stuttered a bit before clearing his through to continue. “Bill is involved…but not in the way you think he is. This situation actually isn’t his fault this time.”

“Dipper! You can’t trust Bill! How do you even know he’s telling the truth?! What on earth are you thinking?” Ford looked completely irate with Dipper and Dipper supposed he had reason to be that way.

“I guess I should start from the beginning.” Dipper looked away from his uncle sheepishly.

“That’d be a good place to start.”

“Ok..well, you know how Bill stopped messing with us and things here?” Ford nodded. “Well, that’s because of me. Bill and I..well, we became friends.” He saw Ford’s eyes widened and he held his hands up in a placating manner. “Just…let me explain. Bill visited my dreams, even back home. At first, he would give me nightmares and I knew it was him. Other times, I didn’t even know it was him. I caught on to his pattern though. Some nights, he’d just talk my ear off, trying to annoy me or something. Well, there was this one night where I had a dream and Bill came into it. But…instead of being afraid and anxious, I felt calm. I guess, at some point I realized that he wasn’t trying to actually destroy me. The dreams were just his way of entertainment and I was his chosen subject. He told me that…that in all the years of his existence, that no one had ever just seen through him like that. No one had ever been calm enough in his presence and seen that he was just having some fun, as twisted as that fun may be. He said that I was a mystery that he intended to crack.” Dipper stared at his hands and frowned.

Ford was perplexed. This didn’t sound like the Bill Cipher he’d met before. He was caught up in Dipper’s story now and he decided he’d hold his comments on Bill until the end. This conversation wasn’t going like he thought it would, so he at least owed it to Dipper to explain himself.

Dipper continued on. “After that, he started visiting me to just talk. It was unnerving at first. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. But he came to me almost every night and we just…we just talked. He still messed with me sometimes but it felt more like friendly teasing than anything malicious. Shortly after that, he stopped wreaking havoc completely. I guess, we kind of became friends somewhere in those talks. He’d tell me things about the universe and answer some of my questions. If he felt I shouldn’t know something, he’d talk in circles until I gave up though. It got to where I enjoyed his company. He was the only person I could talk to and not be looked at like I was crazy.” Dipper’s expression was bittersweet. “I don’t have a lot of friends back home. Hardly any really and I’m not close with any of them. Most people just think I’m this nerdy little freak who likes mysteries.”

“Dipper, you’re much more than that…” Ford felt his heart clench.

“I know. Mabel tells me that all the time. It’s hard to think that when you’re socially isolated most of the time. I guess that’s why I latched onto this place…and well…onto Bill as well. He’s protected me a few times since we became friends. Some of the summers here were a little hair raising with close encounters and his knowledge helped me out of those sticky situations.”

“That doesn’t sound like him at all.”

“I know, right? Bill being helpful? Hell must have frozen over right? But he did. He said I was the only fleshbag worth talking to and he couldn’t have me dying on him due to my mortality.” Dipper chuckled fondly. The sound confused Ford. “Well, here he can visit me while I’m awake due to the magical rift in Gravity Falls. So we’ve hung out here before.”

“What?! How did he get in? That’s…that’s not possible! I have the shack warded against him!” Ford had stood in his surprised and Dipper blinked owlishly at him.

“Um…yeah, that worked..but uh…it doesn’t work when you have a magical tether. I have a tattoo on my hip that allows him to be wherever I am, regardless of barriers. I wanted to be able to talk to him in my room.” Dipper shrunk away from his grunkle.

“WHAT?!” Ford yelled. “All that work I put in to keep him out and you just nullify it!? What the hell were you thinking?”

“Hang on! He can’t come unless I call him! At least…that’s how it used to be…”

“What was that?” Ford’s voice was dangerously low. “Just what exactly do you mean by that Dipper.”

Dipper gulped. Well this conversation escalated quickly. “He has a body now,” Dipper said, barely audible.

“Come again?”

“I said he has a body now!” Dipper grasped his hair in frustration. “He wanted to be able to help me in this world. He said he would teach me how to use my magic. So we made him a body. Now he can do whatever the hell he wants but his body is mortal. Plus, now he’s literally tethered to me. He can’t exist in this world without me, so if I bite the dust, so does he.”

“Are you crazy Dipper? You brought probably the most powerful demon in existence into our plane of existence and pretty much gave him a free pass!” Ford drug his hand down his face and grumbled in irritation.

“You know what Grunkle Ford? Maybe I am a little crazy. Maybe I’m a little crazy for wanting the help of my friend who might actually give us an edge, even if he’s a demon. My reasoning was that it would be smart to pit one demon against another because we didn’t know at the time that I had so much power stored in me.” The anger was apparent in Dipper’s tone. “Look, I know it sounds crazy to you, but he’s not like he was before. At least…he’s not like that to us anymore. He won’t do anything to us. Trust me on that.” Dipper was feeling attacked and also a bit defensive on Bill’s behalf. Perhaps it was the soulmate bond but a lot of it did have to do with the fact that he actually did consider Bill a friend.

“I don’t know what to think anymore Dipper. I thought you were smarter than this…”

Dipper crossed his arms and stared down Ford. “Say what you want, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s been better to me than any human has. I’m more comfortable with magical creatures apparently.” Dipper’s shoulders dropped and he visibly deflated. “Turns out there’s a reason for that too.”

Ford looked confused. “What do you mean by that?”

Dipper glanced at Ford wearily. He wasn’t sure how seriously Ford was going to take him on this one. “Have you ever heard of a being or creature that watches over magical forest? Like…a keeper of the forest? They watch over the forest and all creatures within it and protect it.”

Now Ford was even more confused. What did any of that have to do with the situation they were in right now? “I’ve heard of such creatures existing. According to lore and some old bits of writing I’ve found here, there used to be one for the Gravity Falls forest. But there’s had to be at least a gap of a couple thousand years since it’s had one, if my calculations are correct. What does that have to do with anything?” A thought crossed his mind. “Are you saying that this thing after you is some keeper that went twisted and bad?”

“No. No, that’s not it at all.” Dipper lifted his hand and looked at it. Then he did a small wave motion and a swirling green flame danced out from his palm and through his fingers. Dipper looked over at Ford. “Turns out…I’m The Keeper of the Forest.” Dipper’s eyes shined green briefly as he made eye contact with Ford.

Ford was taken aback. That had not been what he was expecting at all. If Dipper really was the keeper, then that would mean he was incredibly powerful now. The stuff of legends, if he were to be honest. But it didn’t make any sense. Dipper was human. The keeper had always been a supernatural creature. He studied Dipper and was fascinated by the fact that Dipper was so freely using magic. “You…you’re using magic. And…and now that I focus on it, I can tell you’ve got more power than you had before. I’ve been able to use a little magic myself and I can usually sense it, but it’s…it’s almost frightening how much you’re putting off. I’m nowhere near your level.”

“Crazy, huh?” Dipper extinguished the flame. “Bill is teaching me how to use it. Well…he was, until the event in the forest happened.”

“What event? Dipper, what exactly happened out there? Your words indicate that Bill didn’t know you were the keeper. How is that possible? He’s all-knowing.”

Dipper sighed. “I wondered that myself. We were practicing my magic. Bill said I was a natural and that I had a lot of magic power packed in me. He said I needed to learn how to control it or I could hurt someone accidentally. Well, he got mad for some reason and ran off. So I stupidly went into the forest to cool off. It’s always brought me peace before. It was still daylight out, so I didn’t think I’d be in danger. Turns out, I wasn’t, but Bill was. I don’t know exactly what happened before he breached the clearing I was in, but it wasn’t good. A chimera had attacked him; one controlled by the creature. It was trying to kill him. I heard Bill yelling and I heard the horrifying screech of that thing right before they broke through the trees.”

“Shit. I bet it was trying to take him out so he couldn’t help you. Bill must be something it fears will get in its way.” Ford shook his head. “Bill I don’t care about though, but you shouldn’t have been in the forest, Dipper. What were you thinking? You could have died. Why didn’t you though?”

“I would have…if it hadn’t been for Bill. He saved me Grunkle Ford. The beast had me trapped in some roots. It was going to strike me, but Bill threw himself in front of me and took the hit. There was so much blood.” Dipper’s eyes teared up. “I thought I had lost him. My only friend. The only person besides Mabel that really got me.”

The air around Dipper crackled and the air felt heavy to Ford. He could see now why Bill had said Dipper needed to get his powers in check. Ford watched him warily and hoped that it wouldn’t get any worse.

“I snapped. That was just…it was the last straw. I felt something stir within me and all of a sudden, I was hit with all these sensations. I could feel the forest. I could feel all of it down to the very last root. It felt like an extension of myself. The forest obeyed my command. I ripped the chimera apart, limb for limb using the roots of the trees surrounding us. I set it on fire and killed it so harshly. I didn’t know I was capable of something so…so horrible. The creature’s hold had left the chimera once it knew I had the upper hand. I was in too much of a trance to think about it at the time, but I feel bad for that creature. It didn’t attack me of its own will. Its death was unnecessary.”

Ford listened with morbid curiosity. Hearing what Dipper was capable of presented Ford with so many questions and his curiosity was peaked. Dipper had gone from this timid boy to a formidable force of nature. It was a little shocking and almost unbelievable. He patted Dipper on the back, trying to be soothing. This wasn’t something he had experience in doing. “Be that as it may, Dipper, it couldn’t be helped. You reacted on instinct. There wasn’t much choice in the matter. It was either you or it.”

“Logically, I know that. Mabel told me that too. But that doesn’t make me feel any better. I’m supposed to protect the creatures of the forest, aren’t I?” Dipper rolled his head back and stared at the ceiling. “That’s not all that happened either, Grunkle Ford. The next part was more world shattering than finding out that I was The Keeper of the Forest,” Dipper said quietly.

This surprised Ford. “Oh? What else could have happened? It’d have to be pretty big to top something like that.”

Dipper turned his head to face Ford. His face was the picture of saddened acceptance. “Bill is my soulmate.”

Ford’s thoughts all halted for an instant. Did he just hear that right? “I’m sorry, I must be hallucinating because I can swear you just said that Bill Cipher was your soulmate.”

“I did.”

“But…that’s not possible. He can’t be your soulmate. You’re human and he’s a demon. Soulmates don’t cross species like that. It’s always been human with human, demon with demon and so on. Wouldn’t something like this upset the balance of things? I’m having trouble believing this.” Ford rubbed his temples. “And even if it was possible, I’ve got to say kid, fate has stuck you with the worst soulmate possible. Damn, I can’t help but feel sorry for you. Are you really sure he is?” Ford just really didn’t want to accept that Bill was Dipper’s soulmate. Of all the creatures it could have been, why did it have to be Bill?

“I’m sure, Grunkle Ford. Once I had come out of the trance I was in as the keeper, I realized it. It had hit me like a slap in the face. I felt the jolt…and I even felt the connection. At the time, I could actually physically see it. I was still amped up on magic power. It allowed me to see things normal humans can’t.”

Well, there really wasn’t much chance at refuting that. Ford was just going to have to begrudgingly accept that Bill Cipher was his nephew’s soulmate. “Ok…so, it’s confirmed them.” Ford grunted out his frustration. “You have some shitty luck, kid. So if he’s your soulmate, what are you going to do? Is he here right now?”

Dipper’s expression morphed into a sadder one. “No. He ran off as soon as he teleported me back into the shack after we’d found out. I haven’t seen him since. I don’t think he took it too well. Knowing him, he’s probably mad that his soulmate is a measly human.” Dipper laughed bitterly. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

“So you just found out two bits of world shattering news and the bastard runs off on you? Oh, I’m going to kill him.” His contempt for Bill had only grew since the start of the conversation.

“Mabel had the same line of thought.”

“Well at least one of you is sensible,” Ford grumbled.

Dipper couldn’t help but feel like he agreed with that statement, even if it was a degrading comment aimed at himself. He honestly didn’t know what he was going to do now. Bill most likely wouldn’t come if he called him. At least, he wouldn’t come so soon after it happened. He could only hope he’d show up later.

Ford sighed. “Well, the Bill situation aside, at least you’ve got the power to stop this thing now, right? I would assume that since you can feel the forest that you would be able to tell where this creature is hiding right? That gives us an advantage. We’ve just got to figure out how to kill it. I may not know as much as Cipher does about magic, but I can try to help you learn how to at least keep yours in check.”

“Thanks Grunkle Ford. All of this has been a lot to take in. I didn’t know what to make of it. I figured you’d be the best person to talk about it to.” Dipper smiled softly at Ford.

“Of course. Anything for my nephew. But please try not to hide something as big as a friendship with Bill Cipher from me again, ok? You’ve really thrown me through a loop here. Don’t think that just because he’s your soulmate that I’m going to just magically forgive him. He’s still on my shit list.” Ford crossed his arms and gave Dipper a stern look.

“I know. I get it.” Dipper knew he wouldn’t be openly accepting of that part, but he figured he’d probably back off given enough time. He didn’t want there to be discord between his soulmate and his family. “I guess all we can do is see how this thing pans out.”

“Right. Well, I’m going to think everything you’ve told me over and see what I can do about researching your newly acquired status. I’m sure I can come up with a battle plan. I did manage to trap Bill in this area once. I’m sure I can figure out a way to trap this thing. Your powers will greatly help in that.” Ford nodded to himself. “Yes, I’m sure I can make this work.

Dipper felt a small wave of relief run through him. At least they had a starting point now and they could move on to working something out. He realized he might have to do this without Bill’s help now and that scared him. But the soulmate thing was going to have to be put on the back burner for now. He had more important things to worry about. “Alright. I guess…come find me if you find anything? I’ll be in my room. I need some time to just think to myself. This all hasn’t quite settled in completely yet.”

“Of course. I’ll be sure to notify you first thing if something comes up. Get some rest. You’re going to need it. After breakfast, we’ll practice magic control.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Dipper got up from the desk and walked towards the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned his head to look at his uncle. “One more thing Ford…please don’t try to do anything to Bill. I know you don’t like him…but he is my soulmate.”

Ford’s face contorted in contempt at the thought of having to play nice with Bill. He shut his eyes and took a resigned breath. He wanted to banish Bill badly, but he couldn’t hurt his nephew like that. “I won’t. I promise. I make no promises if he does something terrible though.”

“Fair enough. Just to put at you a little bit of ease, I did make him promise that he couldn’t kill or hurt anyone unless it was in self defense or to protect one of us.”

“And he agreed to that?”

“Yes.”

“Damn…you really did befriend him.” Ford shook his head. “Anyway, go try to get a nap in. You look like you could really use one. I’m going to get to researching.”

Dipper just smiled and nodded. “I could. I’ll see you after breakfast, Grunkle Ford.” With that, Dipper made his way back up to the shack. He walked back up to his room and sat down at his desk, laying his head down on it. He knew he told Ford he’d try to nap, but he knew damn well he wouldn’t be able to sleep. His mind was swimming with far too many questions.

“Bill…where are you?” Dipper got no answer, of course. He felt sad and could feel the faint pull on the link between the two of them. He could no longer see it, but he could still tell it was there. It made him angry to be connected to Bill like that because it had ruined their previously established relationship. Things would never go back to being the same after this. Dipper felt like crying again. Wasn’t finding your soulmate supposed to be a happy thing? All he felt at the moment was bitter regret. Dipper let his thoughts wonder and he didn’t realize that he’d fallen asleep until Mabel was shaking him awake and telling him it was time for breakfast.

“Huh?” He stared blearily up at his sister.

“It’s time for breakfast, Dippity Dop. Why were you asleep at your desk?”

Dipper sat up and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of his sore neck and back. “I had a nightmare and when I woke up, it was really early in the morning so I figured I’d just go talk to Grunkle Ford.”

“Oh…um…how did that go?”

“He knows everything now,” Dipper lamented.

“Oh…wow. Ok. How did that go?” She didn’t envy her brother.

“Better than I thought it would, at least. He did yell at me and he was pretty pissed that I’d basically been inviting Bill in here. But he promised to not do anything to him since Bill is my soulmate.”

“Well that’s expected. And also, a step in the right direction, I think. At least he isn’t going to kill Bill on sight. Given that’s probably what he would have done if he didn’t know, I’d say it’s probably best that you told him.” Mabel could imagine how that scenario would have gone down and it wouldn’t have been pretty at all.

“He was also baffled by the fact that I’m human and a guardian. Oh and baffled by the fact that my soulmate is not another human and in fact a demon. He said he’d do some research and tell me if he finds anything. I’m supposed to go do magic control practice with him after breakfast.”

Mabel’s mood soured. “Bill should be here helping you with that. I’m so giving him a piece of my mind when I see him again. He may be an all powerful demon, but nobody messes with my brother.”

Dipper smiled fondly at Mabel and shook his head in endearment. “I appreciate the concern, but I think Ford can at least handle teaching me that. I don’t want to think about Bill right now.”

“Right. Sorry. Anyway, breakfast time! Hurry up or it’s going to get cold!” She grabbed Dipper’s arm and pulled him up and towards the door.

He laughed at her antics. “Alright, alright. I’m coming. No need to drag me.”

She let go of him and stuck her tongue out at him. He returned the gesture and followed her downstairs. The smell of breakfast wafted through the air and he picked up on it when he came into the kitchen. Mabel had made eggs and hashbrowns and the smell was making his mouth water. “That smells amazing Mabel. I’m going to have like, five plates.”

“Psh, of course it’s amazing! It has patented Mabel awesomeness packed in it. And you couldn’t finish two plates if you tried. Don’t kid yourself, Bro Bro. You know I can out eat you any day.” She laughed boisterously.

Dipper just rolled his eyes. She was right, of course. Honestly, he could only manage one plate of food. He’d never been a big eater. As he made his way to the table, he stopped by the fridge and grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge and two glasses from the cabinet. He placed them on the table and sat down, waiting for Mabel to sit before he dug into the pots of food on the table. They both took generous portions of food and began to dig in.

“So…how are you holding up?”

Dipper paused in his eating for a moment and glanced up at his sister. “As best I can, I suppose. I’m still mad at Bill. I’ve kind of accepted being a super powerful magical guardian now. I mean, it is really cool that I have magical powers now.”

“There’s the bright side! See, things aren’t all that bad.” Mabel beamed at her brother. She sat in thought for a moment, contemplating on whether or not she wanted to give Dipper hope in regards to Bill. She decided that she should probably say something encouraging because she knew her brother would probably spiral down if she didn’t. “Well…you have every right to be mad at him. I totally get that, but he might be as freaked out about this as you are. I guess, all you can do is give him some time? He’ll come back, I’m sure.”

Dipper took in her words and mulled them over. It was possible that Bill was just as confused and freaked out about this whole thing as Dipper was. It was a very unusual situation, after all. He was hurt and mad that Bill left but he supposed he could forgive him in time for taking off like he did. “I guess you’re right. This whole soulmate ordeal is strange. But I don’t feel like talking about it anymore…so…”

“Right, right. Of course. Just try not to think about it too much I guess. I know how you get.” She gave him a concerned look.

“I promise that I won’t let it turn into a downward spiral of emotion. I’m just going to focus on my magic and killing this creature.” Dipper frowned. “Speaking of which, where are Stan and Ford?”

“Stan had errands to run in town and Ford ate already. He’s out front setting up some stuff for your practice I guess. He told me to have you go out there after you ate.”

“Oh. I guess I better hurry up and eat.” Dipper scarfed down the rest of his food and gulped down his orange juice. He took his plates to the sink, rinsed the food off and set them aside to be cleaned. “I’ll see you later Sis.” He didn’t wait for a response before walking out the door.

Mabel stared after him, concerned. She knew Dipper was hurting and trying to mask it. He may have others fooled but he could never hide anything from her. She sighed and finished eating so she could clean up the kitchen.

Outside, Dipper found Ford standing about 20 feet from the porch. There was a range of targets and two mats on the ground. He stared quizzically at the mats.

“What are those for?”

Ford turned at the sound of Dipper’s voice, finally noticing he was out there. “Oh! There you are. The mats are for meditation. A clear calm mind is key to unlocking your magical potential. We’re going to start with that and then move on to some target practice.” Ford gestured to one of the mats. “Have a seat.”

“Oh, ok. I guess that makes sense.” Dipper sat down cross legged on one of the mats.

Ford followed suit, taking his place on the other one. “Ok, now I want you to close your eyes and focus on trying to find your magic flow.”

Dipper tensed up and felt a wave of an emotion he couldn’t quite name wash over him. Those were damn near the same words Bill had said to him. He froze for a moment, eyes wide before blinking and shaking his head. Now was not the time to be thinking of that prick. He forced himself to take a deep breath and closed his eyes as Ford instructed. He felt for his magic and found it fairly quickly. This time was different than from before though, because he could also feel the forest now. The sensation was eerie in a way.

“Tell me what you’re feeling,” Ford instructed.

“Everything. I can feel my magic flowing through my body and I can feel where my magic touches and is connected to the magic of the forest. It feels kind of like it’s cycling through me along with my inner magic and then flowing back out. Does that make any sense?”

Ford was silent for a moment. “Hmm…so you really are the keeper. That’s one of the things that happens. The forest is attached to you. I guess the simplest way to put it would be that the forest’s magic is a part of your magic now, and by extension, the forest is a part of you too.”

“It feels odd…but right at the same time. The forest feels like a living thing and I can hear what it wants and what it feels. I mean, it’s not thoughts, like with people, but more like…like a feeling. And I just know what those feelings mean.” Dipper took another deep breath. “Man, this is major. What am I supposed to do now Ford? I can’t go back to a normal life after this.”

“Hmm…that you can’t. In fact, if my research is correct, then you can’t leave this area. The forest depends on you now. If you leave, it could die. I don’t think anything would happen to you, but you would most likely be hit with its loss.”

Dipper opened his eyes and looked at Ford. “I…I have to stay here?” Dipper wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Gravity Falls had always been somewhere he cherished and he had considered moving here before. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to be confined here though. But, he did love the forest and he didn’t want anything to happen to it so if he had to stay, then so be it.

“You can leave for short periods of time. I’d say, probably a couple weeks at most and the forest would still be ok. You just can’t leave for extended periods of time.”

“Oh. Well Hell, what am I supposed to do about college now? I was halfway done.” Dipper laughed. “Is there even a point anymore? I mean, if I’m a part of this forest now then I can’t really pursue a career anyway, right?” Dipper almost laughed at the thought because he’d become a part of the thing he was studying.

“Well, there’s not much you can do there, I’d say. It’s possible to finish it up online, but that’s only if you really want to pursue that course.” Ford sighed. “I couldn’t find anything about a human being a keeper before. I don’t know exactly what this is going to do to you Dipper. I think it’d be best if you stayed around here permanently anyway. Your human body isn’t meant to house that much power. There’s a reason humans are limited magically. On a rare occasion a few are gifted, such as myself, with more magical capacity but it’s nowhere near what you’re housing. Overuse could very well kill you. Humans just aren’t meant to hold the power you do.” Ford looked worried and frustrated.

Dipper tried to let what Ford said sink in. He could die because of this? Could this situation get any worse? What’s next? The apocalypse or something? Dipper slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Fate seems to like to keep making my life worse.”

Ford couldn’t help but agree. “It would seem that way. But that’s why we’ll just have to be careful how we handle this. Is there anything else you’ve noticed about your powers?”

Dipper met Ford’s eyes. “I can heal, apparently. The other day when I was collecting deer teeth, I got a pretty bad slash on my arm. By the time I got back to the shack though, it had completely healed itself like it wasn’t even there to begin with. “

Ford’s eyes widened. That wasn’t a human magical trait at all. “You…you healed? Without having to think about it or using any healing spells?”

“Yeah. I didn’t use any sort of spell and I certainly wasn’t thinking about it. I was more concerned with the fact that some freaky deer attacked me.”

“Dipper…that’s….that’s unprecedented! Human’s can’t heal like that without magic spells. It also takes a lot of magical power to completely heal a wound and it’s always draining to do so. This…I don’t know what to make of this. It doesn’t make any logical sense. You shouldn’t be able to do any of the things you have.” Ford was shocked and honestly baffled by the situation Dipper was in. Never in his many years studying the supernatural and paranormal had he come across something so strange as what was happening to Dipper. It defied the rules of magical logic.

“I guess I’m just full of surprises.” Dipper laughed nervously. This whole thing was foreboding and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. No one knew what was going to happen to him and that thought alone was enough to give him chills.

“Dipper, I know this is all a lot to take in; but we’ll get through it. We’re Pines! We get through everything!” He clapped his hand down on Dipper’s shoulder. “I’m going to ask around the magical community and see if they have any answers. For now, let’s practice your magic. If anything, we can at least try to get that under control.” Ford stood up and waited until Dipper stood too. He walked over to a spot he’d marked in the dirt. “I’m sure you noticed these targets when you came out here, right? I want you to try shooting your magic at them.

Dipper walked over to the spot warily. “Are you really sure it’s such a good idea for me to try to shoot things? We don’t know the extent of what I’m capable of.” He looked at his grunkle nervously.

“I’m sure. Practice makes perfect, right? How will you get any better if you don’t try? Now come on. I have confidence that you can do this. You are my nephew, after all.” Ford smiled at Dipper.

Dipper inhaled a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Right. Let’s do this then.” He lifted his hand and brought forth a green flame. He briefly wondered if he’d even be able to fire it. “Uh…how do I do this?”

Ford chuckled. “It’s not as hard as you think it is. Using your magic is about concentration and also instinct. A lot of it relies on feeling. Your flame is probably not the best choice for a projectile magic blast. I would presume that you can ignite things with it without having to touch them.”

Dipper nodded. “Yes. I did that on accident once…and then one time on purpose. Before you ask, the accidental one was Bill and the one on purpose was the chimera. I don’t think you’d be too choked up about me setting Bill’s head on fire.”

Ford couldn’t hold back the laugh that burst from his lips. “You set Bill on fire? Oh that must have been a sight. I would pay to see that.” Ford shook his head in amusement. “Anyway, back to training. Try concentrating your magic power into a sphere in your palm. You’ll be launching that sphere at the targets. It takes a lot of practice to get a projectile that’s of any significant damage, so don’t worry to much about that. And don’t get discouraged if you can’t form the sphere right away. It took me about a month to get anything to actually happen when I first started learning.”

“Alright.” Dipper focused his attention on his palm and could feel his magic gathering in it. He concentrated and imagined a sphere there. To his surprise, the physical manifestation of his thought started to form. The orb glowed a soft pale yellow color and grew in size. It was about as big as a cantaloupe now and Dipper figure that would be big enough, so he stopped pumping magic into it. He looked over at Ford in amazement. “Is this good?”

Ford’s jaw was practically on the floor. “How…how did you? You said you haven’t done this before?” Dipper shook his head no. “You just keep surprising me, Dipper. By all means, you shouldn’t be able to do it right off the bat. You truly are gifted.”

Dipper blushed in embarrassment. He wasn’t used to getting praise. “Thanks. Though I think it has less to do with me and more to do with the whole Keeper of the Forest thing.”

“Nonsense. If you didn’t have some natural skill, then that power would be useless. Ok. Now try to hit that target that’s straight ahead. It’s about thirty feet away. You shouldn’t have a problem covering that distance.” Ford took a step to the side and pointed at the target.

Dipper raised his arm and aimed at the target. “Here goes nothing.” He sent the energy ball forward towards the target. He just hoped he didn’t miss.

Ford watched in anticipation. He was expecting a small blast at best. He was most certainly not expecting what actually happened. When the ball hit the target, a blinding light burst forth and a ground shaking explosion happened. The recoil knocked Ford from his feet and the blast was large enough that it came back and would have hit Ford if not for the protective forcefield Dipper had thrown up around them on instinct. Once the light and dust receded, Ford stood back up, wide eyed and gaping at the eight foot wide crater that Dipper’s magic left in its wake. The ground was singed black all the way to them and a little behind them. The only place it wasn’t was the area that had been encased in the forcefield. It was about ten feet from hitting the shack too. The surrounding targets had been obliterated along with the first. Ford turned to Dipper, a look of astonishment on his face. “How…you just…I don’t…I don’t understand.”

Dipper was fully shocked himself. He had no idea that he had packed that much power into that ball of energy. His eyes were wide too and his face was pale. Shit, he could have caused some serious damage. “I don’t even know myself. I didn’t think there was that much power in it. Shit.” Dipper stared down at his upturned palm. “I’m going to seriously need to learn how to control that. I really don’t know my own power.” His arm was trembling.

Ford stared at Dipper as he gathered his thoughts. “Well, I think it’s safe to say that you won’t hurt anyone you’re close to, at least. I don’t know if you noticed, but instinctively you threw up a forcefield to keep the magic blast out. You protected us without thinking about it.”

Dipper blinked in surprise. “Huh? I did?” Ford gestured to the ground around them and Dipper looked down. Sure enough, he could see the circle of untouched dirt around where they were standing. “Oh. Well that’s good to know.”

A moment later, Mabel came rushing out of the shack looking like she was about to kick someone’s ass if she needed to. “What is going on!? I heard an explosion and the ground shook! Are we under attack?!” She stopped her tirade when she noticed a frazzled looking Ford and Dipper standing there outside. “Dipper…was that…you?”

Dipper just nodded numbly. Truth be told, he was scared of his own power. “Apparently, I don’t know my own strength.”

Mabel sighed in a mixture of relief and exasperation. “Honestly…what am I going to do with you, Dipper. You scared the hell out of me.”

Dipper had enough sense to look sheepish. “I don’t mean to make you worry, Mabel. We were just trying to practice. I’ve got to get a hold on these powers at some point, right?”

“You do. But can you try not to level everything we own next time?” she teased.

Dipper huffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

Ford stood there quietly for a moment. “I think that’s enough practicing for today. We probably shouldn’t try that again until we know a bit more about your situation.”

Dipper glanced over the destruction around him, his expression grim. “Yeah…yeah that’s probably a good idea.”

“I’m going to go see what I can find out. I’ll let you know if anything comes up.” Ford took one last glance at the area around him before walking inside and his resolved steeled. He was going to figure this out if it was the last thing he did.

Dipper followed him inside, along with Mabel. She turned to him and gave him a worried look. He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “I’ve got a lot of practicing to do, it seems.”

“Tell me about it. Geez, Dipper. You could kill someone with that kind of power.”

“I know. It wasn’t intentional. I’ve gotta learn what I’m capable of. Damn it. Bill would be handy right now. He’d be able to tell me exactly how to do this.” Dipper growled in frustration.

Mabel’s expression soured. “Yeah, well he ran off, so you’ll have to do it without him. I knew he was no good for you.” She knew that she’d tried to be positive with Dipper about it earlier but she just couldn’t hold in the contempt she felt for Bill running off like he did when Dipper could clearly use his help.

Dipper felt a pang of hurt stab through him. Why did it bother him so much that Mabel hated Bill? It wasn’t anything new. It was kind of expected, really. But he felt the need to defend him, even if the jerk didn’t deserve it. “Mabel…”

“Ugh! I know. I know… I just wish this was easier for you.” She turned away from him. “I’m going to go back to watching T.V. Come get me if you need me.” The thing Mabel hated the most about this situation was that she couldn’t help Dipper. This wasn’t something she could solve. She walked into the living room, effectively ending the conversation. She did feel a little guilty about the jab at Bill.

Dipper just watched her go and sighed. He couldn’t really be mad at her. He knew that if the situation were reversed, he’d be royally pissed at Bill. Dipper walked back up to his room and shut the door. He trekked over to his bed and plopped face first onto it. He groaned and rolled over on his back. What was he even going to do about this situation? He figured he’d give calling Bill again a try. Maybe he was ready to talk.

“Bill!” Dipper called out. “Bill! Please! Just…I’m not even mad anymore. Just please come here. I know you can hear me!” He sat there for a moment and nothing happened. Dipper felt tears prickle in his eyes. This had to be the first time Bill hadn’t come when Dipper called. It hurt. A lot. Far more than he ever thought it would. “Bill…” Dipper rolled over and curled up in a little ball as he began to sob. “I need your help…I…I just need you…” Still nothing happened and it just made Dipper cry more. He became a sobbing mess on his mattress and due to his lack of rest and the energy his practice consumed, he ended up crying himself to sleep.

Somewhere just on the outskirts of town, Bill sat and listened to Dipper’s pleas. He’d never felt guilty or sad before, but he was certainly feeling it now. Dipper was just a human. Why should him being upset bother Bill? It was stupid, and frustrating; but no matter how hard Bill tried, he couldn’t deny that Dipper’s pain hurt him too. He wanted to go to him but he restrained himself from doing so. Too much heartbreak would happen if he went to him. Dipper couldn’t be with him forever so he had to keep his distance so that he didn’t become more attached than he already was. It was selfish and hurt terribly, but he’d endure it. Dipper would at least have the grace of death to relieve him of his pain.

“Please, my little Pine Tree…forget about me…”

 


	8. The Pursuit of Knowledge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's another chapter for you! I hope you like it. Forewarning though, you guys are about to be annoyed with Stan. lol

Chapter 8

A few weeks had passed since the incident with Dipper’s magic. Ford had insisted that Dipper focus solely on meditation and getting to know his magic flow. He didn’t want to risk another explosion like that. Aside from the magical practice, it was turning out to feel like every other trip to Gravity Falls. Things were silent in the forest and the creature hadn’t made any attempts to attack since then. In fact, it seemed to have just hung on the outskirts of the deeper part of the forest. It was getting harder to track at times and that was cause for worry. Dipper wondered if it was trying out methods to be invisible to him. Ford hadn’t come forth with any new news about his status but he insisted that they’d find something. He really hoped that they’d be able to figure something out before the creature found a way to drop off his radar.

This particular afternoon, Dipper was sitting at the outskirts of the barrier during his meditation. A little part of him told him that was dangerous because all the creature had to do was use something non-magical to grab him with and pull him out. He ignored that part though. He could tell where it was and he was confident enough that he’d be able to back away long before the creature got close.

“I see you out there…” he whispered to the creature, even though he knew it couldn’t hear him. Dipper had been focusing on the forest today. He felt like he had a pretty good understanding of his own inner magic by now so he was testing the waters of the forest’s magic. He’d started this process yesterday but hadn’t yielded any luck yet on getting the forest to react. It was frustrating. He didn’t want times of dire need to be the only time he could harness the power of the forest. It’d probably go faster, if he knew where to start in connecting with the forest. Bill would be useful about now.

Dipper sighed. He still hadn’t heard from the demon since that fateful evening. It upset him and he was extremely frustrated with Bill. He was furious of course, but he couldn’t help the fact that he also missed him and felt terribly lonely without him there. Dipper had tried to reach him through their connection a few times but it never got him anywhere. It always seemed like he hit a wall before he got too close. Apparently Bill was keeping him out and that was even more upsetting than anything else Dipper had to contend with at the moment. There were times where Dipper could swear he felt Bill near, but by the time he focused on it, the feeling was gone.

“Why won’t you just come back you asshole?” Dipper growled under his breath. He let out a heavy sigh. Dwelling on Bill wasn’t going to get him anywhere so he refocused on the forest.

When he focused enough, he could feel the magic that was flowing through the forest. That was as far as he’d gotten so far. He just couldn’t seem to connect with it like he had before, even though he knew he was tied to the forest. It was unbelievably frustrating to him. He yelled out in frustration and his magic manifested by way of his flames around him and flared out before extinguishing.

“You know, even though I know you’re magical now, I still haven’t gotten used to that.”

Dipper startled and snapped his head around to look at who had just spoke. He visibly relaxed when he noticed that it was just Mabel. “Geez, Mabes, you can’t sneak up on me like that anymore. My reactions can be unsafe sometimes.”

“I have faith that you won’t hurt me.” She smiled at him. “Anyway, lunch is ready. Come eat so you don’t wither away.” She turned and walked back towards the shack, knowing he would follow.

“Right.” Dipper got up and turned to walk towards the shack. A slight tug of a presence stopped him though. The feeling was coming from the forest and he turned to look back out at it. He knew who it was. Only one person felt that way. He knew Bill visited various parts of the forest frequently, but he had no idea why. “I know you’re out there…” Dipper shook his head as a wave of sadness washed over him. He pulled his focus away from the feeling and made his way into the shack. It wasn’t going to do him any good to dwell on it.

“So what’s for lunch?” he asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

“Pony shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!” Mabel yelled in excitement as she presented a plate with the pony shaped sandwiches on them.

“Did you dye the bread?” Dipper asked incredulously.

“Psh, of course! It would have been too boring if they were all white, silly billy.” Mabel shook her head like her brother had just asked something ridiculous.

“Ok then. Well, as long as it doesn’t kill me, why not?” Dipper tended to just roll with his sister’s eccentricities most of the time anyway. He grabbed a few of the sandwiches and put them on the paper plate she offered him before sitting down at the table.

“So, any luck with magic practice?”

Dipper shook his head. “I can’t seem to connect to the forest, no matter how hard I focus. I’ve gotta be missing something.” Dipper angrily bit into one of his sandwiches.

“I’m sure you’ll get it, Dipper. You’re a natural with all this kind of stuff. Ford hasn’t found anything yet?” She hated that her brother was struggling with all of this.

“No, no luck yet. He’s pretty much been locked up in his lab pouring over his books since I told him. I’m starting to think he’s not going to find anything.” He placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. “Things just never seem to be easy for me.”

Mabel held up a sandwich in front of his face and in a disguised voice Mabel said, “Sandwich pony says don’t be sad, Dip Dop! It’ll get better!”

Dipper stared at the sandwich in disbelief for a moment before snorting with laughter and pushing the sandwich away from his face. His sister was a gift and he couldn’t put into words how much he appreciated her. “Ok, ok. I won’t be sad. It’s still frustrating though.”

Mabel beamed at him. “I know, but we’re good at taking on the what seems like the impossible.”

He chuckled at her and smiled warmly. He felt like he could accomplish anything so long as Mabel was there to support him. They always did better when they worked together. “Right.”

The rest of lunch was spent in companionable silence. Dipper felt full and satisfied. He was ready to go back out and practice more. After he got up, he threw out his plate and thanked Mabel for lunch. He’d probably starve if it were for her, to be honest.

Once back outside, he settled back down at the edge of the forest and resumed his meditation. A few hours passed by with nothing eventful happening. Dipper still couldn’t connect like he wanted to, but he at least had a good feel for where the various big magic pockets were in the forest. Some parts of the forest had a higher concentration of magic. He figured it might be helpful to note where those are.

A feeling of dread fell over him suddenly and he quickly opened his eyes to stare out at the forest. It was still light out, so he knew it wasn’t the creature, but it felt just as ominous. At first, he couldn’t seen anything but when he focused on a point in front of him, he could see a set of glowing yellow eyes staring at him. They weren’t the familiar ones of Bill though. These were filled with malice. The eyes belonged to what could only be described as an over-sized wolf. It’s lips were pulled back in a snarl and it just sat there, quietly watching Dipper.

“Shit…” How did he not notice this thing approach? Had the creature figured out how to mask itself? Dipper knew he wouldn’t have time to run back to the shack before the wolf reached him, should it chose to attack him. It had walked right up to the barrier and now he was sure that the creature was controlling it. A normal wolf, over-sized or not, wouldn’t know where the barrier stopped. Even if the creature’s control would leave the wolf once he crossed the barrier, he would still most likely attack. The wolves in the forest weren’t know for being friendly. The creature was probably banking on that fact. Damn this thing was clever. Dipper also couldn’t help but be annoyed with the irony of this situation. He really should have listened to that little inner voice earlier.

“You’ve become quite troublesome, child,” the wolf spoke. The tone was venomous and sounded like an echo.

Dipper gulped and tried to steel his nerves. It wasn’t easy, considering his anxiety was peaking through the roof at the moment. He nervously stared down the wolf, knowing he needed to stand his ground. He could use his magic if he really needed to, at least. “Why are you so hell bent on killing me?”

The beast let out a chilling laugh. “Oh, I don’t want to kill you, young one. I need you for something grand. You’ve yet to realize just how important you are.”

The statement only confused Dipper further. “You…you need me for something?” Why would the beast need him? He wasn’t any good at using his magic yet and he wouldn’t cooperate willingly. Unless… “You don’t need me. You need my power, and you can’t use it without me.” He narrowed his eyes at the creature.

“Oh! It looks like the pathetic little human has some smarts after all.”

“You intend to try to possess me, don’t you?” Dipper snarled at the creature. “Well it won’t work. I know how those things work. I have to willingly agree.”

“Oh, but you will when I take something that’s important to you. In fact, I think you’ll be singing like a canary for me once that happens.” The creature laughed maniacally.

Dipper felt rage pulse through him. “Don’t you dare touch anyone I care about!” His eyes were glowing green again and the ground rumbled around him.

“So fierce. Such raw power. It will help me accomplish everything I need to! For now though, enjoy this parting gift, young keeper.” The presence from the creature left the wolf and it seemed to snap back to it’s senses. Once it spotted Dipper, it growled low in it’s throat and started advancing towards him.

Dipper quickly stood up and took a defensive stance, backing away slowly in hopes to put some distance between them. He knew the wolves of the forest had a general dislike for humans since they tended to kill them and mess up their way of life. The wolf lunged at Dipper, quickly closing the distance. Dipper didn’t have time to completely get out of the way and the wolf manage to snag his leg in its mouth. He cried out in pain and stumbled, trying to keep his balance. The wolf didn’t let go of his leg. Dipper fought through the pain and moved in close to the beast, grabbing a fist full of fur with one hand to keep himself in place and placing the palm of his other hand against it’s ribcage. He quickly focused his magic and let out a blast that pierced the beast’s chest. All the life left it’s eyes as it slumped to the ground and it’s jaw went slack, releasing Dipper’s leg. Dipper fell to the ground and panted, trying to catch his breath as he waited for his leg to heal.

Unbeknownst to Dipper, Bill had sensed the flare up of Dipper’s magic and was immediately alarmed. He had teleported to Dipper’s location but by the time he had, the fight was already over. Dipper had won the skirmish. Bill was invisible when he arrived and decided to stay that way. Dipper clearly didn’t need his help and Bill didn’t want to reveal himself to the young man. He would have stepped in if need be, but since he didn’t have to, he would continue to stay away. He watched Dipper with concern and waited until he’d seen Dipper’s leg heal up before he teleported away again. Dipper was too caught up in what had just happened to realize that Bill had been there.

Mabel had heard some commotion from inside and she had come running out when she heard Dipper yell. She swore she was going to have gray hairs by the time this thing was over because this was the third time in 3 weeks that she’s come running out to the sound of her brother in distress. When she came out, she saw that Dipper was on the ground next to a huge wolf that wasn’t moving. It looked dead. “Dipper!” She ran over to him, dropping to the ground and saw that his leg was covered in blood. “Oh, kitten farts! Are you ok Dipper?” She shook his shoulder.

Dipper opened his eyes and looked up at his sister. His breathing was more under control now and his leg had healed up nicely. It took less time than the last time this had happened to him. He must be getting stronger. “I’m fine Mabel. The creature decided to be clever and try to use this wolf to get to me. I got it though.” Dipper sighed in frustration. “I had to kill another creature of the forest. Damn that stupid thing.” He sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

“You’ve gotta stop worrying me, Dipper. I swear, you’re going to give me a heart attack.” She glared sternly at him, crossing her arms.

He had the decency to look sheepish. “I know. I’m sorry. I just want this thing to be gone already. Sitting at the edge of the barrier probably wasn’t the smartest thing.” He glanced at his sister. “It spoke to me through the wolf.”

“Oh? What’d it have to say?” Mabel was curious.

“It said that it needed my power for something. It…it threatened to use you guys to get me to do what it wants.” Dipper scowled. “I won’t let it though. This thing is really starting to piss me off. It used the wolf because it knew the chances of it attacking me were high, despite that its hold would leave the it once it went through the barrier. It doesn’t want me dead, so it probably knew I’d win. That means it was doing that just to fuck with me.”

“Shit, it sounds like it’s getting desperate.”

“Yeah. Well, I don’t think I’m going to get any meditation done after that happening, so let’s go back inside. I’ll have to figure out what to do with this wolf later.” Dipper sighed as he stood up. Mabel followed suit.

Once they were inside Mabel turned to Dipper, pointing her finger at him. “Ok, so I think you should just do your meditating in here from now on. I swear, you’re a walking disaster. It’ll give me a little bit of peace of mind, at least.”

Dipper held his hands up in surrender. “Ok, I’ll agree to that.” He didn’t like making his sister worry so he figured he could at least give here that. “I’m going to go get cleaned up and sit in my room for a little while.”

Mabel looked relieved. “Good. Yes, go get cleaned up. You don’t need to track blood everywhere. I know we have wood floors, but it’s still a bitch to clean up.”

Dipper just rolled his eyes and laughed. “Ok, Mom.”

“Shut up.” She punched his arm. “Go do Dipper things in your room and try to stay out of trouble. Wait…don’t do Dipper things. That’s what gets you in trouble. Do normal person things!”

He laughed loudly at that while rubbing his arm as he ascended the stairs. After retrieving new pants, he went into the bathroom to rinse his leg off. Well, these pants were definitely trash now. Damn, he liked that pair too. Oh well. He discarded them into the trash can and put his leg in the tub to rinse it. Once he was washed and redressed, he made his way back to his room. Dipper walked over to his desk and sat down. He wrote down his findings in a notebook he had been keeping to document all the encounters with the creature so far. It wasn’t a terribly long list, thankfully, but the content of the entries was pretty severe. He also wrote down his magical findings in another notebook that had a lot more in it than the previous one. Dipper liked to keep track of things.

Taking a deep breath, he closed the notebooks and went and laid down in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He pondered the information he’d just learned from the creature. So…it needed him for something but the question is, what exactly does it need him for? Was it trying to take over the world? That seemed pretty cliche. Maybe it was trying to use his power to destroy the world? Or it could be trying to get back at someone stronger. The list of possibilities was endless and he’d probably get a headache trying to figure it out. He growled in frustration. This situation sucked big time. He shut his eyes and tried to clear his mind. Those thoughts weren’t going to get him anywhere.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Pine Tree…” Bill’s voice was low and accusatory.

Dippers eyes snapped wide open and he stared up at Bill, who was floating about 3 feet above him, just below the ceiling. “Bill!!”

Bill stared down and Dipper in anger. It turns out, he just couldn’t stay away after what he’d seen earlier. He had to give Dipper a piece of his mind about being reckless. It had ate at him until he couldn’t take it anymore and he teleported over to the human. Plus, it just infuriated him further that he cared so much that he couldn’t stay away. All over, Bill was just pissed. Pissed at the creature, pissed at the universe, pissed at Dipper, and most importantly, pissed at himself and his damned emotions he apparently had.

Dipper stared up at the demon in shock. His first thought was that his mind was playing tricks on him but he could feel the connection. Bill was actually here! “You’re…you’re actually here…” Dipper stuttered out.

Bill’s expression grew furious. “Yes, I’m fucking here, Pine Tree. I’m here because a certain human can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble! How many times do you have to almost die before you realize maybe you should take things more seriously and actually think things through?!”

Dipper glared at Bill. “You didn’t seem to care about what happened to me when you ran off! I haven’t heard from you in weeks and you bust in here thinking you can scold me about not being careful?! Fuck you!” He crossed his arms and stared the demon down.

Bill growled low in his throat. “Listen here, you little shit. I ran off because I needed to sort some things out. This was not how my life was supposed to go!” Bill grabbed his hair angrily. “My soulmate was supposed to be this great powerful being! A demon! But it’s you! I should have seen this coming but I didn’t. I’m not supposed to care this much about a damn human! I can’t leave you alone for a second. You’re always getting into trouble! But if you don’t want my advice, then by all means, I’ll just be leaving again!”

Bill looked like he was getting ready to teleport out again and Dipper’s eyes widened in panic. He may have been mad at Bill, but he’d finally showed up and he wasn’t about to let him just leave again. He didn’t think he could take it. So he reached up and grabbed Bill’s wrist to still him. “Wait!” he yelled out. Then in a softer tone. “Wait…just…just please don’t leave me again.” Dipper’s whole demeanor changed from pissed to sad. He wanted to yell at Bill, but ultimately, he just wanted him to stay. He couldn’t bare it if he left again. “I…I miss my friend”

Bill paused in his movements and looked down at Dipper. His expression looked broken and it broke Bill’s resolve. When did this simple human become so important to him? Bill sighed and stayed where he was. “Fine, I won’t go. But we need to have a serious talk about your habit of looking for trouble.”

Dipper looked relieved and he pulled Bill down to him by his arm. The demon let him, curious about what he was trying to do. Dipper stopped pulling when there was only half a foot between them; then leaned up and wrapped his arms around Bill’s torso, hugging him. “I don’t care that I’m mad at your stupid butt, I’m glad you’re here.” Dipper let him go and laid back down. He gave him a half smile.

Bill stared at Dipper in shock. He hugged him. Willingly, at that. The demon had certainly not been expecting that. It dawned on him that Dipper wasn’t like any other human he’d met before. He knew full well what Bill was and he still wanted to be his friend. He wasn’t scared of him even though he really should be. Humans were supposed to fear demons and go running when they encountered one. They weren’t supposed to hug them like Dipper had. It was just the way of things. He was studying Dipper’s face now. Bill didn’t really have a preference for looks in humans but he supposed that Dipper was attractive, by human standards. His features were pleasing to look at. He felt the urge to touch Dipper’s face, so he did. Perhaps it was the close proximity or maybe the soul bond, but Bill couldn’t seem to find a problem with wanting to do so. It felt like he was just gravitating towards Dipper. He ran his fingertips in a feather-light touch from Dipper’s brow, down his cheek and to his chin, cupping it.

Dipper’s heart felt like it was trying to escape his chest. His face had turned crimson and he was practically shivering in anticipation of what Bill would do. This behavior was completely unusual for Bill. Dipper was confused about why he was allowing it. He was supposed to be mad at Bill, not letting him touch him tenderly like a lover. Despite all that, he let Bill touch him and part of him was hoping he’d do more than just caress his face.

Bill’s eyes locked onto Dipper’s lips and he felt the urge to kiss Dipper. The thought was absurd to him. Why on earth would he want to do that? Human mating rituals were so weird to him. That didn’t change the fact that he still had the urge to do it, though. Maybe it was his human body reacting to Dipper, but Bill found himself caring less and less about stopping what was happening right now. He slowly leaned in to close the distance between them.

Dipper was definitely shivering with anticipation now. He closed his eyes, waiting to feel Bill’s lips against his. He wasn’t sure what had come over them but he couldn’t find any reason to object to it.

Right before their lips made contact, the door to Dipper’s room slammed open. “Dipper! Come to the kitchen quick! Ford thinks he’s figured out…what’s….hap-” Stan stared at the sight before him. Bill’s face was a mere inch from Dipper’s and you really couldn’t interpret their position any other way. They both gasped in shock and whipped their heads towards Dipper’s door. “What the hell are you doing to my nephew!?” He ran at Bill and Dipper’s eyes widened.

“NO! Wait! Grukle St-” Dipper tried to say but it was too late.

Stan tackled the demon to the floor. Bill was in such shock that he didn’t bother to move or try to stop the tackle. He and Stan went falling to the floor with a loud thud. “I won’t let you hurt my nephew! I know a demon when I see one! What kind of magical hold do you have over him?!” He had Bill in a headlock and Bill was just staring at Stan like he was deranged.

Dipper stood from the bed. “Grunkle Stan! Let go of him! He wasn’t trying to hurt me and he doesn’t have some magical hold over me! That’s Bill!” Dipper had explained to Stan about Bill too but neither Ford nor Stan knew what Bill looked like, so he supposed he could see why this situation had happened.

Stan looked at Dipper and then Bill. “Huh? This is Bill?”

Bill got his wits back and turned his head to glare at Stan. “Yes, you oaf. NOW LET GO OF ME.” He smacked Stan’s arm for emphasis. Had he not promised Dipper he wouldn’t hurt anyone, he probably would have broken Stan’s arm for his insolence.

Stan narrowed his eyes at the demon. “Nah…I think I like you being in a headlock better.”

“Grunkle Stan!” Dipper scolded.

“Fine! Fine! I’ll let go.” Stan relinquished his hold on Bill and got up, crossing his arms and glaring at Bill.

Bill stood up and brushed himself off before straightening his clothes. “Thank you, you uncultured swine,” Bill sneered.

“Guys…please behave.” Dipper rubbed his temples. He was beyond embarrassed right now.

“You want to tell me why I came in here to find you almost kissing a fucking demon?”

Dipper turned beat red. “We are NOT talking about that. What we’re going to do, is go find Ford.” He turned to walk out of the room. “Come on Bill. Hopefully Ford doesn’t try to take you out too.”

Bill turned up his nose at Stan and silently followed Dipper out of the room. Part of him was relieved that Stan had burst in when he did. He could have done without the tackle to the floor though. He didn’t know what had come over him. He had almost kissed Dipper! A human! What was wrong with him?

Stan didn’t like this situation at all. Bill was the last thing in existence that he would ever trust. After all, Bill was the reason that Ford had disappeared all those years ago. He had promised Dipper that he wouldn’t kill Bill, but that didn’t mean he was going to be nice to him. The elder man followed the other two out of the room, glaring at the back of the demon’s head all the way downstairs to the kitchen where the others were waiting.

Ford looked up when he heard them come into the room. “Ah! Dipper there you-” He stopped short when he saw the third person that had come in with them. Unlike Stan, Ford could tell immediately who it was. “Bill,” was all he said.

“Fordsie!” Bill grinned devilishly at the older man, showing off his pointed teeth. “Long time no see.”

Ford glanced warily between Bill and Dipper. “It has. So…Dipper, uh…when did Bill get here?”

Dipper blushed again. “He uh…showed up a few minutes ago.”

Mabel took note of her brother’s blush and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. That was odd. What happened up there? She was definitely going to prod her brother for answers later. She glanced down at her phone and sent a quick text to Wendy about how she thinks her worries are turning into a reality.

Dipper cleared his throat. “So…what’s this news about my situation?” He was pointedly ignoring the stare his sister was giving him. Shit, he was not looking forward to the conversation he knew he’d be having with her.

“Right.” Ford presented the book on the table to Dipper. “Under suggestion of a colleague of mine, I went and found this book. Remember how I was gone for two days a few days ago? I had to go find it. It took me a while but I managed to unearth it and I had just finished reading through it about 2 hours ago. I spent those two hours compiling my findings.” Ford then pushed some notes in front of Dipper. Dipper picked up the notes and glanced over them. “As it turns out, the forest chooses its keeper. The being that it chooses is usually one that is pure of heart and has a strong dedication to the forest. Fate of course, does predetermine this creature and makes sure they’re in the forest so that it’ll happen.” Ford paused for a moment to let Dipper take in the information.

“You’ve been fascinated with this place since you first came here all that time ago. Hell, I didn’t see you for hours on end because you were always in that damned forest. It makes sense why it would pick ya,” Stan added.

“The book also states that it chooses a creature with a strong magical affiliation and one that isn’t mortal.” Ford frowned. “Which brings to question-”

“Why did it pick me?” Dipper finished.

“Exactly. That much, I don’t know. The book is extensive in explanation of guardian spirits but everything in there says that they’re never mortals and certainly never humans. So we know why the forest latched onto you since you’ve always had a strong connection to it. But the mortal part is leaving me stumped.” Ford frowned.

“Yeah, that doesn’t make much sense to me either.” Dipper continued to look over the notes.

“It’s because of Pine Tree’s birthmark,” Bill said casually.

“I KNEW IT!” Mabel yelled as she stood up, slamming her hands on the table. Everyone stared at her like she was crazy. “Sorry,” she said as she sat back down. “Continue.”

“Anyway…his birthmark? Care to explain, Bill?” Ford looked at the demon questioningly.

“He told you it was glowing before, right? There was a reason for that. Birthmarks don’t glow for no reason. The forest called to him through his birthmark. Pine Tree here is a unique case among humans. Every couple thousand years or so, one of you fleshbags is born at just the right moment when a certain collection of stars line up. It grants extraordinarily power to you that you normally couldn’t have.” Bill glanced over at Dipper, who was staring at him like he was irritated. “Oh don’t give me that look. I actually didn’t find that out until recently. I went and found it out. What, did you think I sat on my ass this whole time?” Bill groused.

Dipper was honestly glad that Bill had actually been trying to figure out his situation. He was shocked that Bill didn’t actually know about it at first and had to ask around but he felt happy that he did. “So what exactly does my birthmark mean?”

Bill looked like he was contemplating actually telling him. “It means you have the power of the gods in you. Celestial gods, that is. Why they choose a mortal human to give the gift to is beyond me but they do. You were born with this power. It just didn’t awaken until now.”

Everyone in the room gasped when they heard the news. “I…I have the power of gods?” Dipper was completely flabbergasted. That had not been what he was expecting at all.

“That’s incredible!” Ford was shocked as well. “So Dipper is really unique and special then?”

“Of course he is. The forest wouldn’t have picked him if he wasn’t.” Bill crossed his arms and looked off to the side. “And he is my soulmate, so he’d have to be special,” he said quietly. Only Dipper and Stan, who were still next to him, heard him. Dipper blushed lightly and Stan looked disgusted.

“Hmm…well, that explains the magic part of why the forest picked him. He has a strong dedication to the forest and the power of celestial gods. But the mortal part is still befuddling. The forest picks a keeper that will be there until the forest doesn’t exist anymore; hence why it picks an immortal being. The guardian stays in place unless it is destroyed somehow or it falls out of alignment with the forest. This is quite the conundrum.” Ford tapped his fingers on the table rhythmically.

“Well, that one, I actually don’t have an answer for. Wish I did because this whole situation is pissing me off. I absolutely detest not knowing something.” Bill’s eyes flashed red in anger.

Ford rolled his eyes at Bill. “That must be so horrible for you.” Ford’s tone was laced with sarcasm. “How humbling to know that you’re not actually all-knowing, Cipher.”

Bill’s eyes changed to red as they narrowed at Ford. “Watch it, Glasses. I may have told Dipper I wouldn’t physically harm you, but I never said anything about mentally.”

The look Bill gave him sent chills down Ford’s spine but he held his ground and glared back at Bill.

“Ok, stop it you two. Fighting isn’t going to get us anywhere.” Dipper put his hands on his hips and gave them both a stern look.

Surprisingly, Bill backed down. That surprised Ford. Perhaps the boy did have some sort of hold over the demon that the demon himself wasn’t aware of. He’d never once seen Bill take orders from anyone.

“Fine. I’m going to be in Pine Tree’s room. This conversation is boring me now.” Bill teleported out of the room.

Everyone just stared at where Bill was for a moment. “So he really does have his powers then.” Ford stated. “I’m not entirely sure that’s such a good thing.”

“He’s been in this world for almost 3 weeks now and it’s still intact. I think if he was going to try anything, he would have done it by now.” Dipper gave Ford a flat look of annoyance. “Have a little faith in him, Grunkle Ford. I know he’s a colossal ass, but he keeps his word.”

“Tch, fine. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt…for now, that is.” Ford didn’t look Dipper in the eyes. “So, I guess since we have a better idea of what is going on, we can devise a better plan of action. I’ll see what I can put together and research some more on the subject so we know what to expect. I’ll have some stuff for you to look over by the end of the night, Dipper.”

Dipper nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a demon to contend with.” He walked out of the room feeling annoyed. Ford’s attitude was getting old. Hell, just about everyone’s attitude towards Bill was getting old. Why couldn’t they just take Dipper’s word for it?

Before he could make it to the stairs to go to his room, he felt someone grab his arm. “Nuh uh. Not so fast brother of mine.”

“Wha- Mabel? What are you doing!?” he yelped as she pulled him into her room and shut the door.

“Ok. Spill. Why were you blushing like a school girl when Ford asked when had Bill gotten here? What happened in your room?”

Dipper blushed profusely and sputtered. His voice was shrill and high pitched when he said, “Nothing! Nothing happened!”

“Liar!” Mabel jabbed his chest with her finger. She stared him down, knowing that his resolve would break before hers would.

Dipper tried to hold out but he never could endure the pressure of one of Mabel’s stare downs. You can call him a wuss if you want but Mabel was downright scary when she wanted to be. He cracked and slumped his shoulders in defeat. “Ok…so maybe something happened.”

“Ah ha! I knew it! Tell me! I have to know! Was Bill taking advantage of you? He better not have. I’ll kick his ass, demon or no.” Mabel crossed her arms and waited for her brother to exlpain himself.

“No! Geez, why does everyone assume that? I’m not some meek damsel in distress you know. I can handle myself.” Dipper puffed out his cheeks in offense. His sister just raised her eyebrow at him. “You’re a terrible sister. I am not like that.”

“You are, but you’re trying to divert the conversation so you don’t have to explain. Quit it. You know that won’t work with me.” She tapped her foot impatiently.

“Damn…” He sighed. “He showed up in my room, finally, after being a butthead and ignoring me. I was on my bed and he was floating above me, near the ceiling. He called me an idiot for always getting into trouble.”

“Oh, well it’s good to know I’m not the only one who thinks that.”

“Who’s side are you on?” He looked at her, offended. “Anyway, we argued for a bit and he turned to leave again and I panicked and grabbed his arm. I mean, I’m mad that he took off, but I still missed him. I didn’t want him to disappear again. He stayed and I told him I miss my friend.” Dipper looked at the floor, embarrassed.

“Aww, how sweet.” Mabel cooed.

“Shut up. So I pulled him down close enough to give him a hug. He let me move him.” Dipper was still looking at the floor, but his cheeks had gone redder when he recounted the next part.

“A hug is not a reason to blush, Bro Bro. You’re not telling me everything. What else happened?” Her curiosity was killing her by this point.

“He ended up being only about half a foot above me…so he was really close.” Dipper hid his face in his hands. “He was staring at me, and then he ran his fingertips down the side of my face and cupped my chin. Our faces were slowly getting closer together, but Grunkle Stan threw the door open at that exact moment. If he hadn’t, Bill would have kissed me. Bill fucking Cipher almost kissed me and I wasn’t doing anything to stop it. Oh god, it just now sank in.” Dipper was still covering his face and was horribly embarrassed by the whole situation. Not to mention, he’d just told his sister about it too.

Mabel was stunned into silence. She figured Bill had done something to tease Dipper or maybe invaded his privacy in some way. She certainly hadn’t expected that the demon had gone all Casanova on her brother. The information didn’t sit well with her. She still didn’t trust Bill fully and she was worried for her brother. This was what she’d been worried would happen.

Dipper looked up at her. His eyes were puffy like he was about to cry and he looked like he was about to have a panic attack. “What am I supposed to do about this Mabel? I really like him as a friend but…but that happened and I don’t know what to feel about it. I just found out he was my soulmate. We’ve only been kind of friends up until this point.”

Mabel pulled her brother into a hug. She pet his head and shushed him. “I know, Dipper. It’s a lot to take in. You’ve had a lot thrown at you. I mean…like a lot. It’s ridiculous actually.” Mabel frowned. “But maybe it happened because you two were actually closer than you think? I mean, he’s your soulmate so I don’t think it’s something you should completely freak out over. You don’t have to jump right into a relationship though.” She felt ill at ease trying to soothe her brother into accepting there might be something between him and Bill. She had hoped there wouldn’t be, after all. But she was going to have to accept the fact that things were the way they were and she’ll just have to get used to it. She knew she was going to regret asking her next question, but she felt like Dipper needed to have it asked so he could move through this process. “Have you…um…have you ever had any, you know…thoughts about Bill?”

Dipper pulled away and looked at her. “Huh? Thoughts?” He stared at her confused for a moment before it clicked. “You mean like…like sexual thoughts?!” Mabel didn’t think it was possible, but Dipper somehow got redder than he already was. The blush had spread down to his neck now. “Oh god, Mabel. Why would you ask that?!”

“I felt like I needed to! Someone had to. I mean, if you’ve thought about him like that before then maybe it isn’t so hard to think that you could actually start a relationship with him. It would mean you’re not repulsed by him, at least. And if he was going to kiss you, then he’s clearly into you in some way, even if he won’t admit it.” Mabel rubbed her forehead with her fingers and sighed. “Look, I’m not telling you to go hop into a relationship with him. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t just throw the possibility out the window. I don’t know how or why, but you changed something in Bill and even though I don’t like it, he makes you happy. This whole flippin’ situation is weird.” She crossed her arms. “But don’t think I’m going to go easy on him. If he hurts you then he’s going to have hell to pay.”

Dipper just stared at his sister while he thought her words over. She was right. He didn’t need to have an existential crisis over this. It wasn’t like he was repulsed by Bill or anything. He’d accepted a long time ago that he was bisexual, so Bill being male wasn’t an issue. And he had thought of him like that a few times since Bill became human. He had to at least admit that he was attracted to Bill. Ok, so that was a start. He still wasn’t sure he could be close to him sexually. The thought was a little daunting. Dipper had always had problems opening up to people. Maybe he should try to give Bill the chance. He did feel pretty strongly about him and Bill did know him fairly well. The demon knew him better than most people did, that’s for sure. He wouldn’t call it love, but it did hurt terribly when he’d thought he’d lost him. Dipper knew he couldn’t go through that again. Even if it never turned into a romantic relationship, he figured he could at least be content with a lifelong friendship.

“I have thought of him that way.” Dipper seemed to get a hold of himself. “I guess you’re right. This isn’t that terrible. I still don’t know how I feel but I guess only time will tell how this thing pans out.” He smiled feebly at his sister. “Thanks for averting my crisis.” He laughed nervously.

Mabel’s look softened as she looked at him fondly. “You know I’d do anything for you, Dipper. Just try not to flip out over this situation. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you’re stronger than you think you are. You’ll figure everything out. You always do.”

Dipper’s smile was genuine now. Mabel was always the saving grace in the chaos that was his life. He didn’t’ know what he’d do without her. “You’re the best sister, you know that?”

“Well duh. Of course I am. Now go talk to him. You two have a lot to talk about. If he gets all stupid again, feel free to yell for me. I’ll come kick his ass.” She laughed and grinned at Dipper before pulling him into another hug.

Dipper hugged her back tightly. “I’ll keep that in mind. I guess I’ll see you at dinner.” She nodded to him as he left her room. When he reached the base of the stairs, he was starting to have second thoughts about going up to his room. He was wasn’t sure he was ready to be alone with Bill again so soon after what had almost happened earlier. But he did need to talk to him, so he gathered up his resolve and made his was up the stairs.

God he hoped this went well.

 


	9. The Start of Something New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long to get this to you guys. I battled with a bit of writer's block on this chapter and it just really wasn't going the way I wanted so I rewrote it. Anyway, here you go. Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> As a bonus, there's some art I did at the end. =)

**Chapter 9**

 

Dipper stood in front of his door, contemplating whether or not he actually wanted to venture inside. The thought of facing Bill at the moment was a bit daunting. His nerves were going haywire and he gulped, trying to swallow down his nervousness.

“Ok. You can do this. You’ve taken on tons of magical creatures. You’re not a coward,” he told himself under his breath.

“I know you’re out there, Pine Tree. You might as well come in. Lurking outside of rooms is rude,” he heard Bill say from within his room.

“Fucking demon,” he muttered.

Taking a deep breath, Dipper turned the knob and pushed open his door. After he entered the room, he turned and quietly shut the door before looking up at Bill. The demon was watching him intently with one of those stares that bore right through him. It made him even more nervous.

“Look…Bill…about what happened earlier…” Might as well get it out of the way. Dancing around the subject would get them nowhere.

“Save it, Pine Tree. Forget it even happened. I don’t know what came over me. Me? Kissing a human?“ Bill scoffed and let out a derisive laugh. “The thought is utterly ridiculous.”

Dipper couldn’t help the pang of hurt that shot through his chest. That was harsh. He shouldn’t be surprised though. This was Bill after all. The demon was never nice. Agreeable at times, perhaps, but never nice. Dipper clenched his fist and tried not to focus on how much that statement had hurt him. He wasn’t even sure why it had hurt him so much. It’s not like they had established feelings for each other and Dipper knew of Bill’s general distaste for humans.

“Right, I forgot you were an asshole for a moment…” Dipper bit out as he crossed his arms and looked away from Bill. Despite knowing he really didn’t have any grounds for it, he threw out the accusation, “You’re so fucking full of yourself.”

Bill was slightly taken aback by Dipper‘s bitter tone. That’s not exactly the reaction he’d been expecting. He thought Dipper would be on the same page as him. Dipper didn’t care about him that way, nor did he feel like that about Dipper. He may have developed a severe attachment to the human at some point but he didn’t think he had any romantic feelings for him. That idea was just plain ludicrous to Bill.

“Let me get this straight. You’re actually mad at me because I don’t want to kiss you? Where is this even coming from?” Bill threw his hands up in exasperation. “You make no sense, Pine Tree.”

Dipper felt like punching something. Right now, preferably Bill’s face. He resisted the urge, as tempting as it may be. Dipper growled out his irritation with himself and Bill and rubbed his temples before turning on Bill. He pointed a finger at him and huffed. “You should find the idea good! Shit! I don’t even know anymore! Why do I even care?! UGH!” Dipper threw his hands out to his sides. “This whole situation is fucked five ways from Sunday! I’ve had a lot to take in lately and you being…being…well, YOU, is not helping anything!” Dipper put his hands out in front of him, gesturing towards Bill to make a point. “In the span of three weeks, I’ve found out that I’m magical, that there’s a horrible creature trying to use my powers, that I’m the Keeper of the Forest, and that a egotistical demon hell bent on chaos is my soul mate. Excuse me if I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment!” Dipper was red in the face from fuming and he was breathing heavily. Why couldn’t he just go back to when his life was simpler?

Bill stared at him in shock as he watched and listened to Dipper rant. Perhaps it was a lot to deal with for a human. He could at least understand that. That didn’t stop him from feeling defensive though.

“OH?! You think this has been particularly easy for me? Imagine finding out that your soulmate isn’t worthy of you? You want to talk about me like I’m some horrible option? You should be feeling fucking lucky that I am your soulmate! Or how about being pulled around by a gaggle of humans to help them out because apparently my life has sunk to such a low standard! I don’t know why I ever decided to spare you! You pines are nothing but trouble for me!” Bill’s eyes were glowing red and his blue flames had flared up around him. How dare this human talk to him that way!

“You piece of shit, classist, asshole,” Dipper seethed. He couldn’t believe his ears right now. He knew that Bill had an ego the size of the United States, but this was beyond ridiculous. Dipper thought that they were at least friends; that there was at least some form of comradery between them. They’d been through quite a bit together. He felt frustrated, hurt, and angry all at once and this time the overwhelming urge to punch Bill was not stopped. He quickly closed the distance between them and landed a punch on Bill’s jaw, causing the demon’s head to whip to the side.

Bill stumbled back and turned his head slowly to stare at Dipper indignantly. “You hit me. You actually fucking hit me…” Bill gazed at Dipper in a mixture of disbelief and rage. He looked at the human in front of him. The one human in the history of their measly existence on this planet to not fear him. To actually stand up to him like no one else could. Perhaps there was a small part of Bill that was impressed with Dipper’s gusto, because his rage turned into morbid amusement. He let out a maniacal laugh. “Oh, I gotta say kid, I was not expecting that. You used to be so damn timid. Sometimes I forget you grew up.” Bill had a crazed smirk on his face. “I can’t say that I’m going to let you get away with attacking me like that though; even if it is impressive that you had the guts to do it in the first place.”

“Fuck you, Bill. You deserved it.” Dipper stared him down, silently daring the demon to try something.

“Hmmm…did I? I don’t think I did. You seem so sure though.”

“Don’t patronize me you shitty demon. You’re so damn insufferable sometimes,” Dipper spat out.

“I’ll do what I want, Pine Tree. There isn’t much you can do to stop me.” Bill grinned demonically at him.

“That’s what you think. Don’t forget that I can sever your physical link to this world.”

Bill narrowed his eyes. He then sauntered over to Dipper and grabbed the young man’s chin in a hard grip, forcing him to look him in the eye. He leaned in close and said, “You wouldn’t do that, Little Tree. You need me. I’d advise against using idle threats.”

“No I don’t,” Dipper stubbornly retorted.

“Oh? How’s tapping into the forest going for you then?” Bill gave him a knowing look. Dipper averted his eyes and stayed silent, glaring at the wall to the left of him. “That’s what I thought.” He let go of Dipper and crossed his arms.

Dipper looked back at the demon. His face was drawn up in a scowl. “Ok, so I won’t get rid of your physical form. I do need you to teach me. But I seriously think that after all this is over, we need to rethink our relationship. I don’t think I can be friends with you anymore Bill. Not after everything you just said.”

Bill stared at him momentarily. “I concur.” He studied Dipper for a moment. Did he really want to lose what he had with the human? Sure, it was humiliating that he’d been reduced to some human’s friend, but he generally did actually enjoy Dipper’s company. There wasn’t another human he could say that about. “Perhaps I was a tad harsh,” Bill added as an afterthought, refusing to look at Dipper. Bill felt disgusted with himself that he’d grown soft in regards to Dipper.

To say that Dipper was surprised would be an understatement. Bill never admitted he was wrong in any way, shape, or form. He also never took anything he said back either, no matter how harsh it may have been. Perhaps there was some hope of salvaging what they had after all. Dipper wasn’t ready to forgive him, but it was a start. Baby steps.

Dipper’s demeanor softened and a lot of the anger left him. Bill was a demon who didn’t really have any humanity in him. Sometimes he forgot that. It didn’t excuse him being a colossal asshole, but Dipper knew that’s why he was the way he was. He couldn’t honestly expect Bill to look at things like a human would. So, he decided to stow his anger for now and make peace with Bill. Hopefully, little by little, Dipper could sway the demon more towards the good side.

“I’m going to take that as a peace offering. Let’s just forget about this mess and focus on my magic practice.” He held out his hand to Bill. “Deal?”

Bill glanced down at Dipper’s hand and then looked up at the human. “Do you really think shaking hands with me is such a good idea? Especially after you just said deal?” Bill laughed in amusement.

Dipper rolled his eyes and huffed. The irony of the situation then occurred to him but he brushed it aside. “I’m at least confident enough in our relationship that you won’t try to make a demonic deal with me by shaking hands.”

Bill couldn’t help the tiny smile that crept upon his face. “You’re far too trusting of me, Pine Tree. But I won’t do it. Not this time, at least.” Bill took Dipper’s hand and shook it; no magic involved.

“Well, that’s settled.” Dipper dropped his hand and looked aimlessly around the room. “So…you want to tell me where you ran off to?”

“Not particularly, no. It’s of no concern of yours, Pine Tree.” Bill glanced at him and gave him a look that said to just drop it.

Dipper frowned and rolled his eyes. He should have expected as much. “Well if you’re not going to talk, then why don’t we go outside for some magic practice. I need to get this connection to the forest thing down like, stat.”

“Hmm…if we must.” Bill snapped his fingers and suddenly, they were outside.

Dipper glared at Bill, murder in his eyes. “If you can just snap your fingers to teleport us, then why the hell have you been so touchy feely with me every previous time?!”

“Oh come now, Pine Tree. You should know the answer to that.”

“You just like fucking with me, don’t you?” Dipper balled his fists.

“Nail on the head.”

A blast of fire hurled towards Bill and the demon quickly dodged it. It hit the nearby tree that was behind Bill and set the timber ablaze. Bill stared over at Dipper with wide eyes. “What the hell, Dipper? That kind of blast would have killed someone normal. Not that I care. But I‘m just saying.”

Dipper growled and extinguished the flame. “Don’t toy with me, Cipher.” He stared Bill down.

“Chill out with the hostility, Little Tree. Save that for the creature.” Bill scoffed at him.

Dipper took a deep breath to calm himself and reign in h is temper. He was going to have to put up with Bill being a general asshole if he wanted to get this forest thing down. “Forget it. Let’s just get started. What do I need to do to tap into it?”

Bill walked over to Dipper and placed a finger on the young man’s sternum. “You have to draw it into your core. Make yourself a passageway for the energy of the forest. Basically, you have to make yourself part of the forest. Magically, at least.”

“Ok…and how the hell do I do that?”

“How far have you gotten with it?” Bill raised a brow questioningly.

“Not far. I managed to get it to where I could feel the magic of the forest. And I can feel all the different places, plus where the big magic pockets are. I’ve essentially been doing a magical map in my head. I just haven’t been able to tap into anything.” Dipper shrugged. His frustration and worry was apparent in his features.

Bill hummed in thought. The fact that Dipper had thought to do that was actually a bit impressive. Most would have seen the situation as hopeless and given up. Dipper however, had worked around it and utilized it to his advantage. Color him impressed. “That actually does help. I would suggest going to one of these magical pockets but with that thing out there, there is no way in hell I’m taking you into the forest. So we’re stuck here. Ford’s magical barrier shouldn’t be a hindrance in connecting to it, so you needn’t worry about that. I know you’ve probably already thought that might be a reason.”  
Dipper narrowed his eyes at Bill. When the hell had the demon gotten to know him so well? He removed Bill’s finger from his chest and turned towards the forest. “Ok, so we have to do things the hard way. What’s new?” There was bitterness in his tone.

Bill was a bit exasperated by this point with Dipper’s negativity. He gathered his patience and ignored Dipper’s mood. “Be that as it may, we can still accomplish this. Now since you have an idea about what the magic of the forest feels like, you should be able to find a vein. The network of magic runs through the forest much like the way you human’s nervous system works. So search for it, and walk to it.”

Dipper mulled the information over in his head. It did make sense. The forest was alive and it’s magic would have a system that allowed it to flow through all of it. Now that he thought about it, the map he’d created in his head did look like a sort of nervous system. So he calmed his mind and felt for the forest’s magic. This part wasn’t hard for him and he quickly located one of the larger veins of magic that was inside the barrier. It was only about 10 steps from where he was standing. Once over it, he opened his eyes and looked at Bill expectantly. “Ok, now what?”

“Try to draw it into you. But don’t upset the balance too much. You have to basically convince the magic that you’re part of the forest so that it’ll move through you.”

Dipper stared at Bill in disbelief. “I have to convince the magic? What does that even mean? Magic doesn’t think. It’s an energy source!” Dipper slumped forward, looking stressed and at his wits end.

“Stop over thinking everything. This is more about instinct. So turn that big dumb brain of yours off for two seconds and use your feelings. I swear, you’re worse than working with a child sometimes.” Bill stared sternly at Dipper.

“I am not! And that’s not exactly easy for me to do.”

“Well you’re going to have to if you want to get this down. Magic isn’t something you can apply logic to, so stop trying to.” Bill relaxed his stance. “Look; watch me.” Bill put his arms out to the side, palms up and drew in energy around him. “I’m not thinking about it. I’m simply feeling it. I’m drawing the energy around me in by feeling it out, connecting, and solidifying the connection. It allows me to draw the power into me. It‘s not quite the same process you will use since I’m a foreign object as far as the forest is concerned. But you get the gist.” Bill stopped the process and gestured towards Dipper. “Now you try. And don’t think too much.”

Dipper could see the energy that had flowed into Bill and it gave him a better idea of what he needed to do. He looked down at his feet and felt tense. He really hoped he could get this down. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed the best he could and closed his eyes to focus on the magic flowing beneath his feet. At first, nothing happened as seemed to be the trend when he tried this. But he reached out with his own magic to touch the flow beneath him and he felt a spark of something. Dipper’s eyes snapped open and he stared at Bill in disbelief.

Bill smirked at him. “See, I told you that you think too much. You‘ve really gotta learn to let go, Pine Tree.” He was looking rather smug.

Dipper’s expression quickly fell to that of one of irritation. “Bite me, you shitty demon.”

“Is that an offer?”

Dipper went scarlet. “What?! No!” He glared at Bill and threw another ball of fire at him. Bill dodged it while laughing hysterically.

“Oh, you’re too easy.” Bill snickered. He waved his hand dismissively. “But jesting aside, I think you ought to try again. This time, don’t stop when you feel the two magic sources touch. You need to get them to connect or this whole thing will be useless.”

“Right.” Dipper looked away from Bill and tried the process again. This time, he managed to get his magic flow to tether onto the forest’s flow. It was a completely foreign feeling. It was like he was suddenly a much larger being instead of a simple human. The feeling he got from being connected to the forest was amplified and he could feel everything going on in it instead of just having a general feeling of the layout in the back of his mind like usual. He worked on solidifying the connection and the more he did, the more he felt from the forest. Once he’d thoroughly latched on, he could feel what could have been taken as the heartbeat of the forest. There was also a lull to the magic that felt a bit like it was breathing. It was almost eerie. He looked back at Bill with a look of wonder.

“Ah, I see you’ve got the idea now. Wonderful feeling, huh? All that magic is available to you. It’s simply waiting there for you to use it.” Bill smiled genuinely at him. “Now what you need to do is make it flow through you. You’ve connected to it, but that’s only the first step.” Bill glanced at Dipper with concern. “And do be careful. This can backfire and the forest will suck all the energy out of you.”

Dipper felt his nerves tense up and he almost broke the connection. “You couldn’t have told me that before?”

“Minor details. You needn’t focus on it.”

“I wouldn’t call that a minor detail, but I’m going to try to ignore that fact.” Dipper glared at the demon. Then he went back to focusing on the forest. He racked his brain trying to figure out how he was going to get the magic to flow through him, but kept coming up short. “Ok…so how am I supposed to get it to flow through me?”

“You’re thinking too much again. I swear, you’re so hopeless,” Bill grumbled out. “Seriously, stop thinking. Just feel. Try opening yourself where you’re connected to it. Give it free range.”

Dipper chose to ignore Bill’s stab at him in favor of actually accomplishing what he was trying to do. He closed his eyes and felt out where he was connected to the forest. “Ok…so open myself up. Shouldn’t be too hard.” He sat there for a good ten minutes before he finally managed to relax enough to allow his magic to open up. There was the tiniest feeling of something starting to move into him. The feeling was tingly and almost made him recoil, but he held his position. This must be what Bill was talking about. He latched onto the feeling and opened up every point in himself he could to the forest. It took at least another 15 minutes but he could feel the magic flowing into him. Now he just had to find a way to direct the current through him.

Bill was watching him with intent. He could see the magical threads flowing through Dipper and the ones of the forest. The young man was getting the hang of it, but he still had a long way to go. “Good. You’ve allowed it to enter you. Now what you need to do is create a entrance and exit point. That will allow it to flow through you instead of you just drawing it in. What you’re doing right now is essentially the process I was using earlier. But that’s not the process you want. You want to have a constant flow going through you, not just into you and then stopping. That will be a hindrance in battle because you’d be limiting the amount you can use.” Bill tapped his chin in thought for a moment. “Think of it this way, you’re essentially traveling through the magical network when you want to move; like an electrical signal through a wire, if that helps any.”

Dipper nodded and focused on doing as Bill said. It was easier said than done though. He felt out around him to see which way the magic was flowing to make it a bit easier to go with the flow of it. Once he’d figured that out, he opened up one side of himself to let the magic in and felt it go through him. Once it reached the other side of him, he opened up that part to let the magic flow back into the forest. He opened his eyes and smiled triumphantly at Bill. “I think I got it!”

“That you did. I’m impressed. That’s not an easy feat to master. Of course, as you are now with it, you’ll still be useless in battle. You took far too long to connect. You’ll have to work on that. Ideally, you should be able to connect immediately. Can you move without breaking the connection?”

“I don’t know. Let me check.” Dipper walked forward, concentrating on staying connected. It was a little hard, but he managed to keep the connection from breaking. “Yeah, but just barely.”

“Hmmm…you’ll have to work on that too. As it is now, you’re having to focus too much on keeping up the connection. It should be done instinctively; without you having to focus on it. You have a long way to go before your battle ready.”

Dipper frowned and thought that over. Bill was right, but that didn’t stop Dipper from being irritated about it. “I want to see what I can do like this.”

Bill quirked a brow at him. “Do you now? Do you really think you’ll be able to make any sort of attack as you stand now?”

Bill’s comment only fueled the fire that had risen in Dipper. He stared at the demon with determination. “I think I’ll fare better than you think I can.”

Amusement graced Bill’s features and he smirked at Dipper. “Have it your way.” He lifted his hand and shot a blast of magic at Dipper.

Dipper decided to give relying on his instincts a try and he was rewarded for it because the forest’s magic created a shield that blocked the attack before it hit him. He stared at it in amazement and smiled, letting out a victorious laugh.

Bill had to give it to the human, he caught on pretty quick. The shield was clever, but he was aiming to get Dipper moving. So he sent a barrage of magical blasts his way, trying to force Dipper back.

Dipper cursed under his breath and moved back from his spot in order to dodge the blast. He felt the connection waver, but he managed to keep it there. “Ok Pines, stop thinking and just feel. Just think…what would Mabel do? Act without thinking too much, that’s what.” Dipper tried to dodge the next wave of blasts that came at him, but he stumbled and one ended up clipping his shoulder. “Argh!” He grasped it and almost lost his connection. “Come on…you can do this.” Bill didn’t let up in his attacks. Dipper was trying to come up with a plan of attack but everything that he thought of would have fallen through. He darted around, trying his best to keep the connection open but each attack broke it further and further. One particular attack knocked him on his back and he lost the connection altogether. The young man stared up at the sky, panting and yelled at the clouds above him. This was going to be more difficult than he initially thought. Dipper frowned as Bill came into his vision.

“I told you, you think too much.”

Dipper flipped him off and closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. He laid there for a few minutes before sitting up. “Let’s try again.”

Bill had to hand it to the human. He certainly was determined.

 

* * *

 

 

The next week was spent practicing Dipper’s connection to the forest. They spent Dipper’s every waking moment outside, trying to get it down to where Dipper could hold the connection while moving. Even if he had to think longer about attacks, he at least wouldn’t be hindered by having to move and considering it still took him a while to connect, that was a good thing.

Ford’s research hadn’t yielded much more than what he’d initially told Dipper. He was still vigilant about looking into it though. That currently was the only way he could help his great nephew and he’d be damned if he didn’t take it. Dipper appreciated his effort.

One afternoon found the two outside again. They were sparring, as was their usual now. Bill’s attacks had gotten progressively more intense over the week and he always kept Dipper on his toes. Dipper had suffered a few injuries but nothing substantial and his healing always patched him up quickly, so they rarely worried about it. Something felt different to Dipper about this exchange though. Bill seemed more intense. It felt like he was really testing Dipper and Dipper couldn’t help but respond in kind. They had gotten into a fairly heated argument before going out to practice, so a lot of their attacks were fueled by pent up anger. But it wasn’t just Bill that felt different. Dipper felt something stir within himself. A feeling deep in his core. One that he hadn’t noticed before. Perhaps it was a baser instinct shining through. He felt like he should let it take over, so that’s exactly what he did.

What happened next was the turning point in his training. Once Dipper had let that feeling wash over him, it was like opening a floodgate. He felt at least five times stronger and faster than he had previously and he wasn’t even thinking about the connection anymore. The feeling was empowering and he launched himself at a speed that startled even the demon.

Bill just barely dodged the attack and marveled at Dipper. Where had this burst of energy come from? Was the human finally using his instincts instead of his brain? Dipper’s movement certainly felt like it to him. He grinned and huffed out a small laugh. Now this was more alike it. Dipper like this could actually present him with a decent spar. He vaulted himself towards the human at an increased speed that a normal person would have no hope of dodging. Dipper evaded it with ease and it got the demon’s blood pumping. Oh, he was going to have some fun now.

Dipper felt a thrill of excitement run through him. He’d never been able to dodge Bill’s charge like that before. It filled him with confidence and he began unleashing a volley of magical blasts at Bill, pushing the demon back. Bill blocked them and veered off to the side, sending his own array of attacks at Dipper. They went back and forth like that for a while, neither backing down to the challenge.

Dipper felt more alive than he ever had. This much power was intoxicating. He was tapping into the forest and drawing more and more out. He almost felt like preening because he should show off this power that’s rightfully his. “What’s the matter, Bill? Can’t keep up?” Dipper was smirking now.

Bill laughed derisively at him. “Ha! As if, Pine Tree. You only wish that you were as fast as me.” The demon dodged a wave of blasts sent his way. What he wasn’t expecting was right after the attacks, to have Dipper all of a sudden right there in his face. His eyes widened in surprise.

“What was that again?” Dipper’s smirk was downright feral as he got so close that he was almost face to face with Bill. He then threw a punch that Bill didn’t have time to dodge and it sent the demon barreling across the clearing, landing in a heap about twenty yards away.

Bill coughed and held his stomach where Dipper had punched him. Damn that had hurt. Since when did Dipper get so fast. He looked up at the human who was standing there, a smug look on his face and a fiery challenge sparkling in his eyes. He was literally glowing with power and Bill couldn’t help but feel a moment of awe. This human had just bested him in combat. This whiney, insecure little bag of flesh had managed to do what no other human could. Dare Bill think it, but he actually felt proud of him. Maybe Dipper was someone worthy after all. He was certainly proving it. Something shifted in Bill. He stopped seeing Dipper being his soulmate as a burden. His little Pine Tree was proving to be quite the formidable force and Bill suddenly felt drawn to him. Oh, but he was going to wipe that smirk off of the human’s face though. Even if Dipper had managed to impress him, Bill was still a very prideful demon. He teleported himself over to Dipper and tackled him to the ground.

“I call foul! I can’t teleport,” Dipper called out as he grappled on the ground with Bill.

“All’s fair in love and war, Little Tree,” Bill snarked back as he rolled Dipper and pinned him to the ground. “It’s very important to use every advantage you have when battling with someone powerful.”

Something shifted within Dipper too. “Oh? So I’m powerful now? That’s a change of pace from what you usually say.” He bucked his hips up and rolled the demon off of himself and then pinned Bill to the ground. He stared down at the man below him. Bill was flushed from the exertion of their spar and he was breathing heavily. Dipper couldn’t help but think he was beautiful like that and that he’d very much like for Bill to be panting and flushed like that for a very different reason. Dipper felt like he should be alarmed by his sudden one eighty about how he felt about Bill but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Nothing in his life made sense anymore anyway, so why bother to try to analyze it?

Bill watched Dipper carefully. He was perplexed by Dipper’s change in attitude. Hell, he was perplexed by the sudden change in his own. Under normal circumstances, Bill would have thrown Dipper off by now, but he felt oddly comfortable being pinned under the human above him. There was just something about this damn human that drew him in and try as he might, he could never stay away.  
“You’ve proven that you’re not weak,” Bill said quietly.

That statement made something inside Dipper’s chest swell. It almost sounded like the demon was proud of him. Dipper’s eyes flickered down to Bill’s lips and he watched Bill’s tongue wet his lips. All rational thought went out the window after that. He closed the distance between them and aggressively kissed the demon below him. An almost feral growl escaped his throat when he did and he felt a sudden fire erupt within himself. Why hadn’t he just kissed Bill sooner if this is the feeling he was going to get?

Bill startled in shock, staring wide eyed at Dipper. Did he really just growl? Fuck, that was sexy. Why was that sexy to him? The hell if he knew. He shouldn’t even feel this way. Bill didn’t understand anything when it came to this human so he threw caution to the wind and just went with it. He hungrily kissed Dipper back, biting his bottom lip and drawing blood. Instead of recoiling like the demon had expected him to, Dipper just moaned and pulled back slightly so he could return the favor. Bill gasped and groaned when the human broke skin. Their blood mixed in a morbid display as they continued to kiss each other deeply.

Dipper pulled back enough to stare at the man below him. “Damn, I think I like having you beneath me…” He smirked smugly down at Bill.

“Don’t get used to it, Pine Tree.” Bill returned his smirk with one of his own.

“Ah-hem.” Both men turned their faces towards the noise.

Mabel was standing there awkwardly. She looked the two of them over. Ok, that was a totally sexual position and she really did not want to ever see her brother like that. They were staring at her expectantly. She noticed that both of their chins and lips were smeared with blood and she felt understandably disturbed. But, she also conceded to herself that it really wasn’t surprising to find them that way. Bill is a demon after all and her brother always was a little…different.

“Um…sorry to interrupt uh…whatever this is…“ she gestured wildly with her hands at them, “but food’s ready. That and Ford said he wanted to talk to you to see how your training is going.”

Upon seeing his sister, Dipper’s mood pretty much was killed. He got off of Bill and stood up, offering his hand to the demon. Bill didn’t take it and stood up by himself. Prideful bastard. He turned to Mabel and smiled at her. She stared at him funny and he remembered that he probably looked like something out of a horror film. He quickly wiped his mouth off with his shirt. It was ruined from the practice anyway.

“Sorry about that.”

“I’m not.” Bill cackled. He was enjoying her discomfort.

“Be nice.” Dipper smacked Bill’s chest with the back of his hand. Bill just narrowed his eyes at him and rubbed his chest.

“It’s ok. I mean, you two are hella weird so I really shouldn’t be surprised.” She laughed nervously. “Anhwho, dinner.”

“Right.” He turned to look at Bill to see if he was coming but stopped in his tracks. Bill was using his fingers to gather the blood on his chin and lick it up. Fuck, there really was something wrong with him because he found that incredibly hot. It took a lot of self restraint to keep himself from jumping the demon. “You coming, Bill?”

Bill smirked seductively at Dipper. “Oh, I’d like to be coming.”

Dipper glared at him, pointing a finger towards him. “Ok, that is not helping.” Bill just laughed.

“You two are a level of weird even I can’t understand and trust me, I know weird. Can we just go eat now because it’s really disturbing watching my brother be sexually frustrated.” She turned to walk back into the shack, pointedly ignoring the two men behind her.

“Yeah, we’ll be in in a minute.” He moved to face Bill.

Bill sauntered up to Dipper and eyed him for a moment. He ran a finger across Dipper’s bottom lip and collected the bead of blood that had pooled there before sticking the digit in his mouth and sucking it. Dipper watched with rapt attention. “I think I may actually look forward to repeat of that, Little Tree,” Bill said as he turned and walked towards the shack.

Dipper groaned and readjusted himself. This demon was going to be the death of him for sure.

                               

                               


	10. Coming Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws some smut at you in hopes you'll forgive the long delay*
> 
> Heeeeyyy....sorry about the long delay. But here you go; the next chapter. Again, I'm terribly sorry for the wait. But hey, you get smut and some fluffyness and a fairly long chapter. Hopefully my next update won't take as long.
> 
> Also, I listened to Flesh by Simon Curtis while writing the smut part. It's so their song.

**Chapter 10**

 

Dinner was spent discussing Dipper’s magic practice. Ford had been impressed with Dipper’s improvement. He wanted to see his progress the following day, to which Dipper agreed to show him. He was tired out from using his magic so much and excused himself shortly after finishing eating. He didn’t have to look up to know that Bill was following him. They silently made their way up to his room.

Dipper closed the door after him and threw off his shirt shortly afterwards. He just wanted to lay down. Bill was still standing by the door and had watched Dipper toss his shirt aside. He was fascinated by how Dipper’s muscles moved beneath his flesh. His little Pine Tree was more muscly than he remembered him being.

Dipper felt Bill’s eyes on him and turned to look at him. “See something you like, Cipher?” He smirked smugly as he threw Bill’s words back at him.

Bill’s eyes were hooded and he licked his lips. “I might.” He smirked back at him, not one to back down from a challenge.

Needless to say, Dipper hadn’t been expecting that response. His smirk faltered and he huffed out a laugh. “Well by all means, keep staring. Not like I can stop you.” Dipper shrugged and shucked off his pants, leaving him in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. He’d long since lost any sense of shame around the demon.

This time Bill just openly stared and looked him over. Dipper had a fairly impressive body. It surprised the demon and he was struck with an overwhelming urge to touch the human in front of him. So he did just that. He closed the distance between them, coming up behind Dipper before snaking his arms around his waist and pressing himself flush up against him.

Dipper froze. This was not the turn of events he was expecting. He felt tense and unsure of how to react. Nobody had ever touched him like this before. It sent a wave of chills down him and his skin prickled up with goosebumps. “Bill? Uh…what…what are you doing?”

Bill chuckled darkly. “What does it look like I’m doing, Pine Tree?”

Dipper huffed and rolled his eyes. “I’d ask if you always have to be so difficult but that’d be a dumb question.”

“That it would.” Bill ran one hand up from Dipper’s stomach up to his chest and just felt the muscular structure for himself. “My, my, Little Tree. You’ve certainly grown in all the right ways.”

Dipper blushed and felt his heart’s pace quicken. A certain other part of his body was betraying him too. “I thought humans were disgusting flesh bags to you Bill?”

“They are.” Bill sneered in disgust. His expression changed and he hungrily looked at Dipper with hooded eyes. “But you’re not.”

Dipper’s breath hitched. Was this really happening? Was Bill seriously coming on to him? Dipper gulped. He wasn’t sure if he was willing to let this go any further. He’d thought about it, of course. He just never thought it’d actually be happening. He couldn’t help but wonder if Bill had had similar thoughts about him. He took a shaky breath and placed a hand over Bill’s. “Is that so?” His words came out in almost a whisper.

Bill put leaned down and licked the exposed expanse of Dipper’s shoulder. He wanted to just sink his teeth into the flesh in front of him. It was extremely tempting to his demon side. He thought about Dipper’s reaction during their kiss earlier and couldn’t help but think Dipper may not actually mind if he did. It’s not like he wouldn’t heal from it. “I don’t know what the fuck it is about you Pine Tree, but I can’t seem to stay away. Every time I try, you pull me back in with greater force. It’s infuriating.” Bill’s grip around Dipper’s torso tightened. These urges and feelings he was having towards the human were driving him insane.

Dipper shivered when his neck was licked. He shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. He was coming to terms with the fact that he may actually want to go through with taking things further. Bill’s touch was electric to him. It lit a fire in him he didn’t even know could be lit. It was nothing like anything he’d experienced before. Perhaps it was the soulmate bond or perhaps just the fact that Bill was a demon. Whatever it was, he wanted to get lost in it. “Then don’t stay away.” Dipper hoped that Bill would take that for the invitation that it was.

Bill’s eyes widened and he took a shuddering breath. Dipper just gave him permission to proceed. He never imagined that Dipper would want this. Thoughts of completely wrecking the human flitted through his head. He hated himself for being this excited about it but fuck if he didn’t want it. Bill snapped his fingers and the lock on Dipper’s door latched. He turned Dipper around, grabbed his face and crashed their lips together. Dipper kissed back in earnest. It was aggressive and heated and needy. Bill walked Dipper back until they reached his bed and pushed Dipper down when his legs had hit the edge of the bed. He pushed him back and then crawled on top of him, settling between his legs.

Dipper broke the kiss to practically rip Bill’s shirt off of him. “Get rid of your clothes or I’m going to rip them off.”

Bill smirked seductively down at Dipper. “Tsk, tsk, Pine Tree. Eager much?” Bill laughed.

Dipper glared at him and leaned up to nip at Bill’s lip. “Off. Now.”

“Damn, you’re sexy when you’re all demanding.” Bill snapped his fingers and all of his clothes were gone, including the boxers that Dipper had still been wearing. They were both now flush together and fully naked.

Dipper shivered in anticipation. He could feel Bill’s heated cock resting against his own strained member. He pulled Bill back down by his hair on the back of his head into a bruising kiss. Dipper wasn’t sure what had come over him but something about Bill just brought out his aggressive side. He’d never imagined he’d be this aggressive in bed.

Bill bit lightly at Dipper’s lip as he moaned into the kiss. He rolled his hips forward, relishing in the thrill that it elicited in him. Dipper’s long drawn out groan was a plus too. He was beginning to wonder why he’d never tried touching Dipper before this. It was addicting and he was sure that he’d never get enough of it.

Dipper bucked his hips up in response to Bill’s movements. The friction from their cocks rubbing together was enthralling. He wanted more. This wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy him. Sure, he could likely get off from the movements but he wanted to feel Bill inside of him. He wasn’t exactly sure where that particular urge had come from but he wasn’t going to deny that he wanted it.

Bill broke the kiss and just looked at the flushed human below him. He couldn’t deny it anymore. He wholly wanted Dipper and could think of nothing else right now except for making Dipper as debauched as possible. Was he always this beautiful? Why did Bill even think of him like that?

Dipper looked up at Bill and made eye contact with him. Those demon eyes should scare him, but they didn’t. He’d accepted though by now, that he was probably just a little crazy because they excited him. “More, Bill,” Dipper whispered. “I want you in me.” Dipper’s assertiveness surprised even himself but he couldn’t find it in himself to care right now. There was a burning need deep in his core for the demon over him and he was completely willing to burn in the heat of its flames.

Bill growled and bucked his hips forward. Damn this human. Fuck him to hell because Bill was willing to grant him anything he wanted right now. He spread Dipper’s legs further and materialized a bottle of lube. He may not have ever had sex with a human before, but he knew damn well how it was done, even if the act had always disgusted him before. He leaned up and rubbed some lube onto his fingers and placed them at Dipper’s entrance. He pushed a finger in with no prompting. A part of Bill wanted to punish Dipper for making him feel like this.

Dipper winced at the sudden intrusion but he didn’t pull away. It stung a little but he wasn’t put off by it, even if Bill was being a bit vindictive. Dipper knew he was. That was Bill’s nature. He knew the demon well enough to know that a stubborn part of him was doing it as a sort of way to get back at him for making him feel like this. He smirked at Bill and spread his legs wider to give Bill more access, practically inviting him to go further. Ok, so Dipper was definitely discovering that he was a bit of a masochist. He’d dwell on that later.

Bill just stared in a mix of awe and irritation at the man below him. He hated that Dipper knew him so well. He hated that Dipper made him feel this way. But Dipper’s cocky attitude and understanding of him just made him want him more. He was a challenge. He didn’t just buckle under Bill’s will and that made him all the more alluring to the all-knowing demon.

Bill started thrusting the finger in and out of Dipper. He watched him with rapt attention and then inserted another finger. Dipper moaned and his hand traveled down to grip his cock. Before he got a chance to grab it, Bill slapped his hand away. “There’ll be none of that, Pine Tree. You’ll cum when I let you.”

Dipper narrowed his eyes at Bill and groaned in frustration. Damn demon. He gasped as Bill inserted a third finger. Being stretched so quickly was painful but not overbearingly so. He found he didn’t mind the pain so much. The sensation of the fingers’ movements was creating enough pleasure for it to not be too over-bearing. If he was being truly honest with himself though, he’d admit that he kind of enjoyed the pain.

Bill couldn’t tear his eyes off of Dipper. Watching his reactions caused Bill’s cock to throb. Fuck it, he wanted to bury himself in him now. No more of his fingers. He pulled them from Dipper and lined his cock up with Dipper’s ass after he’d lube himself up. He looked back up at Dipper. “Ready, Pine Tree?”

Dipper stared at him through hooded eyes and nodded. God did he want him. “Just do it already.”

Those were the only words Bill needed. He plunged himself into the tight heat of Dipper’s ass and let out a long groaned as he entered him. It was electrifying. Every sensory nerve was alit with sensation. It was almost a shock to him how good it felt. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all but he was loving every second of it.

Dipper cried out as Bill slid into him. It wasn’t done fast but he hadn’t gone slow either. His eyes watered and he gripped the sheets under him tightly. His breath was ragged and he tried to relax enough to adjust. It hurt, but he was quickly adjusting due to his healing. The feeling of being full was overwhelming. He wondered why he’d never tried to go this far with anyone before because hell, he loved it.

After a moment, Bill gained his focus back and groaned as he bucked his hips forward. Dipper moaned and threw his head back. It fueled Bill on and he leaned over him as he started to thrust in and out of Dipper. He felt like he could stay connected to Dipper like this forever and never get enough of it. The demon was beginning to understand why humans had sex so much.

Dipper wrapped his arms around Bill’s torso as he writhed below him. This was everything he could have ever wanted and then some. He surrendered himself over to Bill completely. Dipper let himself get lost in the waves of pleasure rolling through him.

Bill watched Dipper hungrily. He looked like he was getting lost in the pleasure. It stroked Bill’s ego because all he could think was that he was the one who was making Dipper look that way. He was the one to have him this way. The one who was giving him this pleasure. He braced himself on one arm and with the other, he gripped Dipper’s hair and forced his head to the side roughly. The action presented the column of Dipper’s neck to him nicely and he leaned down and bit into his flesh.

Dipper cried out in pleasure and his back arced off the bed. Shit, that shouldn’t have felt as good as it did but Dipper didn’t care. He loved it. “Bill…” he moaned out the demon’s name. “Faster.” Dipper gasped. “Please.”

All sense of control Bill had was lost when Dipper spoke like that to him. He felt an almost animalistic need to fuck Dipper into oblivion wash over him. He quickened his pace as he lapped up the blood on Dipper’s neck. Fuck, what was this human doing to him?

Dipper was a moaning mess below Bill now. Bill’s deep, fast thrusts were hitting his sweet spot, causing waves or pleasure to wash over him. Most coherent thought had left him and all he was left with was the primal need to be fucked wholly and completely. He was lost in the moment and just wanted more. He could feel heat coil in his belly as his need to cum grew rapidly with each thrust.

Bill’s pace had become almost brutal by this point. He was thrusting into Dipper as fast as his legs would let him and he was slamming into him with each snap of his hips. He leaned up so that he was on his knees and grabbed Dipper’s hips in a bruising grip and pounded into him, watching Dipper become completely debauched. He marveled at his handiwork.

Dipper moaned and writhing as he enjoyed the ride. He was gripping Bill’s arms so tightly that his knuckles were white. The amount of pleasure he was receiving was built up and it became too much and he spilled over. Dipper came hard, his cum shooting out across his belly in hot bursts. He cried out and moaned Bill’s name repeatedly, almost sounding worshiping in nature.

Bill lost his last bit of resolve when he watched Dipper come undone and felt him clamp down around his cock. He groaned as he snapped his hips forward and unloaded his cum deep inside Dipper, filling him completely. Dipper had moaned when he felt Bill cum and Bill just admired the way Dipper looked after being thoroughly fucked. He was breathing hard, his face was flush, his hair was a mess and he wore an expression of pure bliss. Bill’s pride swelled up because he’d been the one who made him look like that.

“So,” Bill took a second to catch his breath. “Enjoy that Pine Tree?” Bill grinned devilishly down at his human. He wasn’t sure when he’d started thinking of him that way but he wasn’t going to deny it anymore. Dipper was his. He’d kill anyone who even tried to touch him.

Dipper cracked his eyes open to look up at Bill as he calmed his breathing down. “Yes. Fuck. Hell, I loved it. We should do it again sometime.”

Bill chuckled and smiled at Dipper. “Oh, we’re definitely doing it again. Just…not right now. I think I actually want to sleep, as odd as that is.”

Dipper just gave him a half smile. “Well, sex does take a lot of energy.” He laughed softly. “We can sleep.” Dipper sounded like he could fall asleep at any moment.

“Sleep it is.” Bill materialized a wet cloth and wiped Dipper clean of the cum on his chest and belly. He tossed the rag on the floor. Then he moved so that he was on his side and he pulled Dipper to him so that he was now spooning the human, wrapping his arm around Dipper’s waist. He pulled the covers over them and then buried his face in Dippers neck, inhaling his scent. He felt himself drifting off from the comfort of having Dipper close.

Dipper sighed in content. Ok, so maybe he could get used to this. It was weird as hell to think about. He’d just had sex with a demon. That was not something he’d ever thought he’d be able to say, but he couldn’t find any reason to regret it. With feelings of content coursing through him, Dipper fell asleep in Bill’s warm embrace. He’d deal with the aftermath in the morning.

 

* * *

 

 

Mabel went up to Dipper’s room to get him for breakfast, as she normally did. Her brother would probably forget to eat if she didn’t remind him. Honestly, she didn’t know how he would survive if she wasn’t around. She went to turn the knob only to find it locked. That was odd. He never locked his door. She didn’t think anything of it though and picked the lock. Mabel always kept lock picks on her. You never know when you might need them.

She opened the door and was about to tell Dipper to get up but her words died in her through before they even had a chance to escape. Oh dear god…her brother was naked in bed with Bill. She gasped.

The sound of the door opening combined with the fact that Mabel wasn’t trying to be quiet had woken up Dipper. His eyes snapped open when he heard her gasp. He looked up at her with wide eyes. “Mabel! What are you doing in here!?”

“Oh. My. God. Dipper!!! Did you…did you have sex with Bill?!” She practically squeaked out the last part.

Dipper panicked. This was not how he wanted her to find out. Actually, he would have been perfectly fine with her never knowing but hell, the cat was out of the bag now. “Shit…uh…yeah. Yeah, I did.” He couldn’t look her in the eye.

Mabel’s face paled and she pointed towards the open door. “I, uh…I…breakfast…Ok, I’m gonna…go now…and uh, yeah.” Mabel quickly left the room and ran down to her own room to grab her phone. She had to tell Wendy and Pacifica this new development.

Dipper was mortified. Why the hell did people keep finding him in compromising positions? That was the last thing he’d wanted his sister to see but he supposed it was better than one of his uncles coming in. Stan would probably kill Bill and well, he wasn’t quite sure what Ford would do but it’d probably be something similar.

Bill stirred next to him and blinked blearily up at him. “What was with all the noise?” he said groggily.

“Oh…Mabel came in here and uh…saw us. And she knows now.”

“Didn’t I lock that door?” Bill frowned.

“Locks don’t stop Mabel. She probably wasn’t expecting to find us like this.”

“Well she shouldn’t have stuck her nose where she wasn’t supposed to,” Bill grumbled. He wasn’t ashamed that Mabel had seen them. He just didn’t care for the fact that he was woken up like that.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll have a talk with her.” Dipper sighed. “Anyway, she said breakfast was ready so I’m going to go eat. Feel free to join me.” Dipper stood up and felt a liquid run down his leg. He blushed. “Ok, after a shower, that is.”

Bill smirked and chuckled. He was proud that he’d made a mess of Dipper. “You do that.” Bill sat up and stretched.

Dipper glared at him as he threw his boxers back on, grabbed some clean clothes and made a bee line for the bathroom.

Once he was showered and dressed, he made his down to the kitchen. It sounded like everyone was already in there. He wasn’t sure if that was such a good thing considering Bill often needed supervision when around other humans.

Dipper was pleasantly surprised though to find that everyone was behaving themselves. Mabel was refusing to look at Bill though. She turned her head when he entered the room and quickly looked away when they made eye contact. Ok, so things were probably going to be awkward between them for a while. He took a seat next to Bill and gathered up some of the various breakfast items to eat.

“So, Dipper. I found a bit out about how you were chosen for celestial powers.” Ford held up a star chart for Dipper to look at. “You see here,” Ford pointed to a particular set of stars, “is the set of stars that allows for it. There is a myth about a group of gods by the name of Seer-sayers. Supposedly, in some of the more ancient cultures, these beings were revered and said to be able to predict the future. They also had control over the stars and would bestow good fortune on crops and livestock, according to the folklore. There isn’t too terribly much listed about them, other than that. But as Bill said, every several thousand years, these stars line up and it channels a flow of energy from these beings and lands in a certain spot. If a human child happens to be born in that spot at the time, they’re bestowed with the power and left with a birthmark afterwards. That’s why you have that peculiar birthmark. You by some stroke of fate happened to be at that spot just at the right time.”

“Oh, it was no mistake. The fates guided his mother there. They control all that happens. It seems that they had big plans for you,” Bill added.

Dipper was completely engrossed in the information he was given. It explained a little more about why he was gifted with these powers. “That’s really interesting. Man, I never thought my life would be so important to the universe.”

“Hmm, it would seem it is. The fates have something in store for you that even I can’t see at the moment.” Bill frowned.

“Indeed it is. You’re a very unique human being Dipper. There’s so much that we don’t know about this but you must use this information for the good of mankind. You’re the strongest amongst us now. Don’t let that power go to your head.” Ford gave him a stern look. He had confidence that his great nephew would do what’s right, but he felt compelled to say it considering the company Dipper kept.

“Of course I will. Man, this is a lot to take in. It’s kind of weird knowing that fate has this plan line up for you.” Dipper shook his head in disbelief. “Did you find anything out about why the forest picked a human?”

Ford shook his head. “No, unfortunately. I have a feeling that one is going to leave me stumped.”

“Damn.” Dipper frowned.

“I have a theory, but I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.” Bill glanced at Dipper.

“Spill.”

“I don’t think you’re going to stay human. The forest…well it’s going to latch onto you. With the combination of the forest’s power and the fact that you have the power of celestial gods coursing through you, it’s highly likely that you’ll transition into an immortal being. Your thread of fate will no longer be bound by mortal limitations.”

Dipper’s eyes widened and he gasped. “You mean I’m going to live forever?!”

“It is highly likely. Besides, even if by some chance you didn’t, I’d make you that way. I can’t have my soulmate dying on me.” Bill brushed imaginary dust off his gloved hand, acting like what he’d just said didn’t hold much gravity to it.

“Wow.” Dipper was trying to wrap his head around the idea that he might become immortal. “Wait…you’d make me that way?” He stared at Bill in disbelief.

“Well, yes. A severed soul bond is a terrible thing to deal with. I’d rather save myself that pain.”

Dipper stared at Bill. He knew that on the surface it sounded like Bill was doing it for a selfish reason but he knew deep down that the demon actually did care about him. He’d already stated that he liked having him around. He gave Bill a tiny smile. He felt like teasing him for it but he didn’t want to start the day off with arguing with the demon. Especially not after the night they’d had. “I’m glad,” was all he said.

“You’re going to live forever? But…what about me?” Mabel looked torn and sad. She didn’t know what to think about it. Her and Dipper had never been separated. She was going to grow old and he wouldn’t. He’d have to watch her die and live on without her.

Dipper’s expression fell when she brought the subject up. “I…shit. I didn’t think about that. I would have to go on without you.” Dipper’s eyes teared up just at the thought of it. He never wanted to live without his sister. He knew that it wasn’t reasonable of him to think she wouldn’t die but the thought still hurt. Dipper didn’t think he’d ever be the same if he had to watch her die while he lived on.

Bill watched the two carefully. They had an extremely strong bond with one another. It went beyond them just being twins. He could see it intertwined in their souls. He cursed himself for going soft and spoke. “I could spare you of that, if it’s what you truly wish. Fate may also have something in store for Mabel as well. You two were born together and your souls are threaded together more than a normal set of twins would be. Think of it like two parts of a whole.”

Both Mabel and Dipper turned to stare at Bill. Neither had been expecting that kind of kindness from the demon.

“You’d do that, for me?” Mabel asked.

“Not for you…” Bill made eye contact with Dipper. “For him.” He looked back at Mabel. “But, it would suffice to say that I’m not terribly opposed to you living forever. You are tolerable as far as humans go.”

Ford watched the exchange closely. He was starting to believe that Bill really did give a damn about Dipper. He’d never heard the demon offer up something so selfless. To say he was shocked was an understatement.

Mabel got up and walked over to Bill. She pulled him into a bone crushing hug. “I still think you’re an egotistical asshole and I don’t wholly trust you, but thank you. If you can spare Dipper that pain, I might be able to accept you.”

Bill froze and wasn’t sure how to react. Nobody but Dipper had ever made any sort of physical contact with him. He knew Mabel was the hugging type. He just never imagined that he’d be on the receiving end of one of her hugs. “Uh…you’re welcome? Can you let go now?”

Mable backed off. “Right, of course. Sorry. I just get emotional sometimes.” She laughed and took her seat again. Bill was slowly showing that he may not be such a bad option for Dipper anymore. She was still wary of him, but she felt that maybe she could give him the benefit of the doubt now.

Bill brushed off his clothes and fixed his collar. “Right, well anyway; perhaps we should get back to Dipper’s training. You said you wanted to see what he could do, right Fordsie?” Bill stood from the table and deposited his plate in the sink.

Ford nodded. “Right, of course. No need to waste the day away with our jabbering. Shall we, Dipper?”

Dipper shoveled in the rest of his food and gulped down his orange juice. He nodded too. “Yeah. Might as well get to it. This creature isn’t going to wait forever.”

The three men headed outside, leaving Mabel in the room with Grunkle Stan who’d been silent through the whole conversation. That was unusual for him. He was usually rather vocal about his distaste for Bill. Mabel looked at him curiously. “What’s going through your head?”

Stan grunted and hummed in thought. His arms were crossed and he was looking at the door where the others had just left through. “That I’m going to have to begrudgingly accept that that piece of shit demon actually cares about my great nephew.” Stan frowned. “I don’t like him being with him. I don’t even like him being in the same room with him. Bill took Ford from me all those years ago. I’m finding it hard to think he doesn’t have some plan going on. Ford may be able to look past that and take the situation for what it is but I’m a professional con man and it just doesn’t sit well with me. Once a con man, always a con man.”

Mabel nodded in understanding. Her expression was torn. “I understand what you mean. I still don’t trust him either. But…in some weird twisted way, he makes Dipper happy. I’ve never seen him connect with anyone like has with Bill. It’s scary to think about because that’s how he got Ford…but…well I like to think my brother is better than Ford and that he knows what he’s doing. I have to think that for my peace of mind. If I didn’t trust Dipper I probably would have kicked Bill to the curb long ago.”

Stan was a little surprised by Mabel’s confession. She was one of the most understanding people he knew. But if even she was cautious of Bill, then he knew there was right for him to worry about how things were going to turn out. “I believe that. I’m not going to rule out that the little slime-ball has feelings for him but I just…well I’m just going to keep a close eye on him. I just don’t trust him.”

“I can understand that.” Mabel stood up. “Whelp, I’m gonna clean up now. You can go watch them. I’m going to after I finish. I want to see how well he’s doing too.”

“Right. I want to see if he really can handle himself now. That boy gets into way too much trouble to not need to know how to take care of himself.” Stan stood and walked out the door to join the others.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Outside, Dipper found a clear spot to stand in. Bill was facing him about 10 yards away. He tried to remember the feeling he’d had yesterday when he’d just let his instincts take over. He saw Stan come outside to watch too and he felt a little nervous. He didn’t have an audience before and it made him a little nervous.

“Relax, Pine Tree. Focus on me.” Bill stared him down from across the field.

Dipper took a deep breath. “Right.” He cleared his mind and connected to the forest.

Ford watched the two of them. He was a little worried about Dipper going up against Bill, even if it was just a sparring match. Anything could go wrong with the demon’s volatile power was involved. Stan silently shared his concerns but he honestly wanted to watch Dipper beat the crap out of Bill. He hoped he would.

Once Dipper had centered his focus, he launched a blast at Bill. The demon deflected it with ease. Dipper had expected him to. He gathered up a cache of energy within himself to the point where he was glowing.  His eyes had been engulfed in the green glow that usually happened when he used his magic.

Ford watched Dipper in awe. There was such raw power there and it truly impressed him. He’d seen a lot in all his years but never something as powerful as Dipper was, aside from Bill.

Dipper released the energy in two blasts, one from each hand, and they shot at Bill with blinding speed. Bill blocked them and was pushed back on the ground about a foot from the force. He grinned and charged up a blast of his own, launching it at Dipper. Dipper blocked it but he was pushed back further than he’d knocked Bill back. So it was going to be that way huh? Dipper grinned back at Bill and shot towards him with blinding speed. He moved so fast that the other two present had trouble keeping up with his movement. Dipper was in Bill’s face before he could blink and he punched him, sending him flying backwards.

Bill caught his footing and wiped his mouth where Dipper had split his lip. His grin was crazed and he looked excited. “Oh ho ho. Little Tree wants to play huh? I’ve forgotten what it feels like to have the thrill of a good spar.”

“By all means, don’t hold back on my account. I think I can take you.” Dipper grinned back at him, his expression challenging.

“You know, Pine Tree, some people might think you’re crazy for provoking an all-powerful being such as myself.”

“Maybe I am. But you know you love it.”

Bill laughed. “Oh, you are indeed fun to play with.” He smirked at him. Bill teleported in front of Dipper and sent an uppercut punch right under his chin causing him to launch up into the air.

Dipper grunted at the hit and gritted his teeth. He let his instincts take over and he used the magic around him to levitate so that he wouldn’t come crashing back down to the earth. He whipped his head back down to look and Bill and then sent a volley of magic blasts down towards the demon.

Bill was impressed. He hadn’t expected Dipper to think of floating like that to avoid impact. He was certainly catching on to his powers quick. He shouldn’t be surprised though. Once Dipper finds the key to something, he always comes out on top. Bill jumped back to avoid the blasts and sent a hug one Dipper’s way.

Dipper’s eyes widened when he saw the size of the blast. He threw one of his own quickly to knock it off course and sent both blasts flying up into the air where they exploded in a shower of blue and green energy. It looked something akin to a firework going off. That blast could have seriously injured him. Damn, Bill really wasn’t holding back.

Bill used Dipper’s distraction and was suddenly in front of him again. “Never take your eyes off your opponent, Pine Tree.” Bill went to strike him.

Dipper gasped and managed to react in enough time to block the strike. They exchanged several hand to hand blows midair, their movements a blur to the ones below. Dipper was becoming more attuned to his magic as he just let himself feel it instead of overthinking. Bill was right about him overthinking things. Magic wasn’t something you can explain and Dipper found it easier the use the less he focused on making it happen and the more he just felt it with his instincts.

Ford watched, completely in awe of his nephew. He never imagined that a human could go toe to toe with Bill Cipher. He was growing increasingly more impressed the more he watched them. “My, Dipper is certainly impressive!”

Stan watched the two of them and he couldn’t help but agree. “That’s Dipper for you. He’s certainly somethin’ else.” Stan smiled. He was proud of him. He’d always hoped that Dipper would grow strong. It was why he was always so hard on him.

Mabel had joined them too, by this point. She was cheering Dipper on. “Dipper can do anything he puts his mind too. He’s crazy determined. It’s his best quality.” She was beaming up at her brother. “Kick his butt Dip Dop!”

Dipper laughed when he heard Mabel. It made him happy that she would always cheer him on. “Oh, you bet I will.”

Bill scoffed. “Oh, you’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” Bill came at him and went to punch him.

Dipper’s eyes had started to be trained to Bill’s quickness though and he grabbed a hold of the arm by the wrist and swung Bill around and then threw him down to the ground. The demon hit the ground, boring into it due to the force in which Dipper had thrown him. In seconds, Dipper descended over him and punched the ground on both sides of Bill’s head. It left craters where he’d hit. Dipper was panting and crouching over Bill with his fist still firmly planted in the ground.

“Don’t get so cocky, Bill.” Dipper smirked at him.

Bill laughed and smirked back at him. “Oh, but you like it when I’m cocky.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Shut up, you damn demon.” Dipper blushed but he couldn’t help but have the urge to shut Bill up with his mouth and bite his lip as a reminder.

“Make me,” Bill challenged.

“No.” Dipper got up and brushed himself off. He wasn’t going to give Bill the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to him.

“You’re no fun.” Bill stood up and brushed himself off too.

Ford came jogging over to them. He looked at the ground where Bill had just been and whistled. “Dipper, my boy! You are even better than I imagined! That was some truly impressive magic usage. I can’t say I’ve seen anything like it.” Ford patted Dipper on the back.

Dipper smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. “You really think so? I think I could do better.”

“Of course I do! You could always use work but you’re far better than I am and you’ve grasped magic pretty quickly. All you need is more practice.” Ford smiled encouragingly at him.

“Thanks Grunkle Ford.”

“Yeah, pretty soon you’ll be mopping the floor with the floating Dorito over here.” Stan laughed.

Bill glared at Stan. “I am not a Dorito.”

Mabel ran over and hugged Dipper. “You were amazing Bro Bro!” She pulled back and looked him over. “But you’re all bruised up.” She frowned.

Dipper hugged her back. “Thanks Mabel. And don’t worry about it. I’ll heal up shortly. Man, I’m tired though. It takes a lot out of you. I could use a drink.”

“Well of course you’re tired. The human body isn’t meant to do the things you were.” Bill snapped his fingers and his clothes were all back in order like nothing had just happened. “That will change eventually though. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“Right.” Dipper took a deep breath and started walking back towards the Mystery Shack. “Break time!”

They all headed back to the shack together and went into the living room once they were inside. Dipper sat down on the couch and sighed in relief.

Mabel headed towards the kitchen and got Dipper his glass of water, returning to give it to him shortly afterwards. He nodded in thanks and gulped it down as she took a seat. A knock was heard and Dipper looked up curiously.

“Expecting someone?” He knew he wasn’t.

“Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot. I invited Wendy and Pacifica over. Let me just go get that.” She jumped up to go get the door.

Dipper paled. He had a pretty good idea why the two women were here. When they all entered the room, Wendy and Pacifica both stared at him for a moment. “Oh god…you told them.” He buried his face in his hands.

“Told them what?” Ford asked, confused.

“NOTHING! Nothing at all!” Dipper squawked out in horror. He did not want his grunkles knowing.

“You alright there kid? You’re acting kind of funny.” Stan stared at Dipper with concern.

Bill just sat there in his chair looking all smug like the cat that’d caught the canary. Damn him. Dipper didn’t know what to say. “It’s nothing. Nothing at all. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so.” Ford raised a brow. Then he stood. “Well, I think I’m going to go try to get more research done. Keep at the practice. You’ll be a pro in no time.” He smiled at Dipper and took his leave.

Stan looked between Bill and Dipper and narrowed his eyes. “I think I know what happened but I really don’t want to think about it. Someone might get murdered. So I’m just going to go to my room and pretend this conversation didn’t happen.” Stan got up and left the room. Dipper was mortified because he was ninety five percent sure Stan had put together what had happened. It was a better reaction than he was expecting though.

Once both Stans had left the room, the girls all turned to Dipper with determined looks.

“Ok, spill,” Pacifica demanded. “How could you have sex with that.” She pointed at Bill.

Bill narrowed his eyes at her. “Hey, I take offense to that.”

Pacifica waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever. I’m not talking to you. Now seriously Dipper, what were you thinking?”

“Are you two like…together now?” Wendy asked curiously. She wasn’t entirely sure what to think of this new development.

“Just let me die. Seriously, I want to just crawl in a hole and never come out. You guys are horrible.” Dipper hadn’t brought his face out of his hands so his words were muffled.

Mabel sat down next to Dipper. “Ok…look, we’re not trying to make you feel bad.” She gave Pacifica a pointed look. She just humphed and crossed her arms. “Dipper, we just kind of want to know what’s going on because this is a pretty big deal.” Mabel hadn’t told the other two that Bill was Dipper’s soulmate. She wasn’t entirely sure how to broach that subject and didn’t really feel like it was her place to say.

Dipper finally looked up at her. “I don’t know what we have. It just kind of happened last night.”

“I don’t get it. I mean, I knew you guys made him human and that you were sort of friends but I didn’t think it’d ever be more than that. What changed?” Wendy asked.

“Oh, I guess you guys wouldn’t know, would you?” Dipper took a deep breath. “Bill is my soulmate.”

“I’m sorry, come again? Did you just say what I think you did?” Pacifica stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Whoa. Like, seriously man? No kidding?”

Dipper nodded his head. “Yeah, no kidding. He really is. I got attacked in the forest and it became known then.”

Wendy sat down with a plop. “Whoa. That’s heavy man.” She almost couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Pacifica was in a similar state. “I don’t understand. How is a demon your soulmate? You’re human. That shouldn’t be possible, right?”

“It shouldn’t, but it is. Apparently, fate and the universe have plans for me. Bill says that I may actually become immortal. I don’t even know if I can still really be called human anymore. I have the power of the celestial gods in me, I’m the keeper of the forest and I’m Bill Cipher’s soulmate. Things have changed so much in a short time that I’m still kind of reeling from it myself.” Dipper ran a hand through his hair.

“Physically, you’re still human but your soul no longer is,” Bill added.

“Right, I guess there’s that. I guess I was literally born for this kind of stuff huh? Mysteries and all the supernatural.” Dipper laughed.

“Well that’s one way to look at it.” Mabel laughed softly.

“So, you’ll become like, an immortal god or something?” Wendy thought it was actually kind of cool that Dipper would always get to be surrounded by the things he loves.

“Not exactly a god. Just like, a super-powered immortal human. That’s probably the most accurate.” Dipper shrugged.

“More or less,” Bill added.

“As for whether or not Bill and I are together, I can’t answer that one yet. We haven’t even talked about it.” Dipper looked a little sheepish about it.

“Wait, so you guys had sex without even thinking it through?” Pacifica raised an eyebrow.

“It was a heat of the moment type thing! Geez…get off my back about it.” Dipper crossed his arms and puffed up. “It’s not like you’ve never just had sex with someone.”

Pacifica had no response for that because it wasn’t really wrong. She huffed and crossed her arms. “Yeah, but the guys I get with aren’t psychotic dream demons.”

“Ok…fair point,” Dipper conceded.

“Ok, can we take it down a notch here? Dipper deals with enough stress with everything that’s been thrown at him lately. I think we should be supportive of him, even if we don’t agree with it.” Mabel glanced between all four of the others. She just wanted everyone to be able to get along. She’d more or less accepted that Dipper and Bill were going to be together, even if it still weirded her out.

Wendy glanced at Mabel. “You’re right. Sorry Dipper. It’s just a lot to take in. I mean, none of us expected things to go this way. But there’s not much we can do to change it.” She gave him a small smile. “I’m behind you for whatever you decide but you should know I’ll find a way to kill Bill if he ever hurts you.”

Dipper smiled back at her. “Thanks Wendy. That means a lot.” He laughed. “Also, you’re not the first one to make that threat.”

Bill rolled his eyes. As if any of them could kill him anyway. For one, he was immortal and another, if they did manage it, it would greatly hurt Dipper due to their connection. He was fairly certain they wouldn’t want to cause him that pain.

Pacifica looked like she was having an internal debate. She finally seemed to cave towards being supportive and gave Dipper a tiny smile. “I guess I’ll support you too, even if I can’t stand that vile creature sitting over there.” She sneered at Bill and pointed at him. “You set on toe out of line and you’ll regret it.”

“Oh save it, Northwest. I’m not going to do anything to Dipper. He happens to be the one thing in this miserable plane of existence I like.” He crossed his arms and glared at her. “Plus, he’s mine so I don’t want him to be miserable,” he muttered under his breath. Nobody but Dipper who was closest to him made out what he said. He blushed.

“Ok…well now that all that’s settled, girls let’s go talk in my room. I think we should give them some time to talk things out.” Mabel stood up and motioned for the other two to do the same. They nodded in agreement and left the room with her.

Dipper glanced over at Bill. “I’m yours, huh?”

Bill refused to look at Dipper. “Maybe.”

Dipper gave him an amused look and lifted a brow. “I don’t think that was a maybe. Especially not with how possessive you are.”

“Ok, so I said you were mine. What’s it to you, Pine Tree? Are you going to dispute it?” Bill narrowed his eyes at him.

Dipper just laughed and smiled warmly at the demon. “No. I actually like the idea of it. I think…I think I really do want to be yours.”

That had caught Bill off guard. He’d expected Dipper to put up a fight about it, not just agree. Bill felt a part of himself swell with happiness. Damn these emotions. He wanted to pull Dipper to him and kiss him. “Well good, because you are mine. Forever. Better get used to it.” Bill tried to make it sound like it was a punishment but he knew he wasn’t fooling Dipper. The human could always see through him for some reason.

Dipper laughed at Bill’s obvious discomfort with his own feelings. “Whatever you say, Bill.” Dipper smiled at him. “So we’re officially together now, huh? Wow. Can’t say this is how I pictured my life.” Dipper shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not upset about it though.”

Bill couldn’t stop himself from looking at Dipper fondly. Damn, he really was going soft. Just what the hell had this human done to him? “I suppose I can be honest and say that I don’t lament how things have gone between us.”

Dipper beamed at Bill. “Good.” He got up and walked over to Bill and then pulled the demon to his feet. Dipper leaned up and kissed Bill softly.

Bill growled possessively and gripped Dipper’s waist, pulling the human to him. He kissed him again and nibbled on Dipper’s bottom lip. “Mine forever,” he asserted.

Dipper just laughed softly and said, “Yeah, yours forever.”

 

* * *

 

 

Deep in the forest, the creature stewed in its rage. The forest was dead around where it sat, bodies of various forest creatures strewn about the ground. “Just you wait, Bill. You’ll pay for what you’ve done.” The harrowing laugh of the creature emanated out into the surrounding forest.


	11. This is the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it guys. The end of the story. I hadn't originally planned for this to be the last chapter but that's how it went. Sorry that it's not as long as the other chapters. I want to thank everyone who has stuck with me this long and also everyone who has commented. You guys are great and you made my day. There will be an epilogue chapter after this one. I hope you enjoy! =)

**Chapter 11**

Another week had passed and Dipper had become increasingly strong in his training. Bill had been relentless in his methods and spared Dipper no mercy while training him. A number of their sparring sessions ended up with them having sex. The thrill of the sparring excited them and Bill found he couldn’t keep his hands off of Dipper. It was both exhilarating and infuriating at the same time. He cursed that he was giving into his urges but he couldn’t find a legitimate reason to stop, so he didn’t. The others had stopped watching their practice sessions due to the explicit nature they turned to sometimes. None of the other three residents of the house wanted to see that.

They had just finished a particularly grueling sparring match and were now seated next to each other on the ground, taking in the beaten earth around them. Along with Dipper getting better, more destruction to the surrounding area happened. He felt bad about it, but Bill told him in time he’d be able to heal parts of the forest and not to worry about it.

“Hey Bill, I’ve been thinking…” Dipper started.

“Hmm?” Bill looked over at him, an eyebrow raised in inquiry.

“This thing…it doesn’t seem like just using me is all it wants. I kind of, well I kind of get the feeling it hates you and wants to get back at you in some way.”

“It’s not outside of reason for you to think that. Not a lot of creatures are very fond of me. They either fear me or hate me or both.” Bill shrugged.

“Right…well I mean, at first it seemed to want to kill me, but I think that was before it realized I was the keeper of the forest. And well, also before it knew you were involved. I can’t help but think there’s some sort of correlation going on there.”

Bill hummed in thought. “You could be on to something. There’s no way to know for sure. It’s best that you just focus on your training. We really don’t know just what this thing has planned. All we know is that we can’t allow it to stay alive.”

Dipper frowned and sighed. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am.”

“Oh shut up you egomaniac.” Dipper punched his shoulder lightly.

Bill just grinned and laughed at him. “I have something I want to check on. You go do whatever humans do in their down time.” The demon blipped out of existence without waiting for Dipper to respond.

“I hate it when he does that. But then again, that’s probably why he does it,” Dipper grumbled as he angrily stared at the spot Bill had just been. He got up and started walking back towards the shack.

Another downside of having to take his time during all this was that he could feel patches of forest die every day the creature lived. It tugged at his very being and saddened him because there were more every day and it felt like little pieces of himself were being chipped away. He was sure that the creature would end up killing the whole forest if left unchecked and he couldn’t stand for that. He had to get stronger for all of their sake.

When he walked in he saw Stan sitting in his chair in the living room, watching one of his TV shows that Dipper always found ridiculous. “Hey, have you seen Mabel? She and I were supposed to go into town today. I don’t want her going by herself because she’s got no way to fight the creature if it shows up.”

Stan looked over at him. “Huh? Oh, no she’s not here. She left with Pacifica earlier. Said she didn’t want to interrupt your training and that she could handle herself.”

Dipper immediately panicked. “What?! Grunkle Stan! Why’d you let her go?!”

“Relax, Kid! Mabel is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She’s a big girl.”

“That’s not the point. She’s not magical. Anything could happen!” Dipper started twisting his shirt in his hands in worry.

“Dipper, calm down. It’d be even worse if this thing got a hold of you. We can’t risk that.” Stan frowned. “You’re just going to have to have faith in your sister.”

Dipper tried to bring down his anxiety but he was finding it hard to do so. He knew Stan had a point but he couldn’t help but worry. That was his twin out there. He’d hate himself if anything happened to her. Dipper let out a shaky breath. “Ok…I’ll, I’ll try to calm down. I’ll be in the kitchen.” With that, Dipper left for the kitchen.

He made himself a snack and stood by the counter as he ate it. Dipper stared out at the forest in worry. His mind wandered over the events that’d happened over the last few months and he tried to think of a way he could get rid of this creature. He’d wracked his mind with countless scenarios and each one his mind supplied ended with the result of him losing. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d have to train to be able to stand up to this thing. Each day it became more of a problem and it frustrated Dipper that he had to bide his time with it. He wanted it gone.

As he took a sip of his drink, his eyes caught something in the distance. A pink beam of light shot up from the forest and Dipper almost choked on his drink in alarm. What the hell was that? It came from the direction from where the road would have been leading into town. Dread filled Dipper’s very being and he feared the worse. What if that thing had gotten Mabel?

Dipper hastily set his drink down and went barreling outside, ignoring Stan’s calls of worry. He ran towards the edge of the barrier and stopped. He shook in panic and stared at where he knew the barrier ended. If he went over this line, he was putting himself at great risk. Another wave of pink light brought his attention back to the road in front of him. Screw it, that could be his sister out there. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was or not but his gut told him that it was her and that she was in trouble. Dipper had learned from Mabel a long while ago that when you got a gut feeling like this, you don’t ignore it.

So Dipper shot off down the road, not caring that he was having to run. He didn’t have time to go back in and get the keys to Stan’s car. He ran at breakneck speed, traveling as fast as his legs would carry him. Based on where he’d seen the light, they couldn’t be that far up the road. ‘Please be ok’ he thought desperately. He had to make it to them.

When Dipper rounded a turn in the road, he spotted what had been causing the light. It was Mabel alright, but she looked worse for wear. There was a protective pink barrier around her and Pacifica. About twenty feet from them stood the creature in all of its amorphous glory. It had grown in size since the last time he saw it, most likely due to all the magic it was sucking up from the forest. It whipped its head towards Dipper when it’d noticed him and let out a snarl that seeped into Dipper’s very bones.

“Ahh…so the little keeper did show up after all. You’re outside of your protective barrier now.” It laughed and lashed back out at Mabel again with one of its long black tendrils.

Mabel yelled as her barrier flickered. She didn’t think it’d hold out much longer. It turns out that she had some latent magical ability herself. It seemed to center around protection. She guessed that what Bill had said about them sharing some power wasn’t too far from the truth. She looked over at Dipper. “Dipper! What the hell are you doing out here!? It’s over if this thing gets you!” Despite being in emanant danger herself, her first priority of worry was her brother. “Get back to the shack!”

Dipper shook his head vigorously. “No! I’m not leaving you out here with this thing!”

Mabel cursed under her breath. Damn her brother being stubborn. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself. This thing can’t hit me.” It was true, but only for the time being. She could feel it wavering and she knew it wouldn’t last forever. She didn’t have to practice that Dipper had with his magic.

Dipper could see it in her eyes that she wasn’t going to last. It made him panic more. He couldn’t just leave her here. What kind of brother would he be if he did that? He turned his attention to the creature and his face twisted in anger. “You’ve plagued this place long enough! Leave!” He shot a magical blast in the direction of the creature.

The creature dodged out of the way and whipped an inky black tendril in Dipper’s direction. Dipper dodged out of the way and the area of road where it had hit was decimated to rubble. “I will have your power, boy. And I will exact my revenged against that vile creature that belongs to you too.”

Dipper’s eyes flared in anger. “What do you have against Bill?!”

“I have everything against him!” the beast roared. “He has wronged me in ways that have wretched and destroyed my soul! He cannot be allowed to be happy when he has caused so much suffering to others!”

Dipper was taken aback by the monster’s outburst. It had seemed raw and full of hurt and rage. Just what had Bill done to this creature? He didn’t get time to ponder it further as the creature interrupted his thoughts.

“But that will be remedied soon for he won’t be able to stand the loss of you.” The creature attacked him again and Dipper narrowly dodged.

“I thought you didn’t want to kill me?!” Dipper was confused.

“Oh, I don’t mean to imply that I’m going to kill you, whelp. I’m going to possess you and he is going to watch as all semblance of your soul is washed out and taken over by me. He will watch you fall apart and be consumed by my all-encompassing rage and hatred. You will be nothing but a hollow reminder of what he should never have been allowed to have.” The creature laughed darkly. “He will forever suffer knowing that you are lost to him forever and you boy, will be trapped and have to watch as I tear him apart.”

Dipper gasped and shook his head with wide eyes. This creature truly was evil. That was a fate worse than death. He couldn’t imagine what it’d be like for Bill to have to watch him descend into madness. “I won’t let that happen. It can’t happen. You…you have to die.” Dipper’s voice wavered.

“I’d like to see you try.” The creature turned and lashed out at Mabel and Pacifica again.

Mabel flinched and yelled out in terror. She tried to hold on but she knew that one or two more hits would do her in and she wouldn’t be able to keep the barrier up anymore.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Dipper yelled as he rose up in the air and sent a volley of blasts at the creature.

The creature howled in pain as a few of the blasts made contact with its side. The beast turned and sped towards Dipper at an alarming speed. It knocked him out of the air and sent him flying back. Dipper tumbled when he hit the ground and skidded along the pavement, tearing up some of his skin along the way.

Dipper groaned in pain as he came to a stop. The creature didn’t give him much of a break. It came after him again but he was a little more prepared this time. He rolled to the side and got up to his feet. He ran to try to get the creature away from Mabel. He had to get farther away because he was worried that Mabel and Pacifica would get caught in the crossfire.

The creature saw what he was trying to do though and would not have it. It stayed where it was and turned to Mabel, bringing down one of its black tendrils and finally cracking the barrier surrounding them.

Mabel gasped and cried out as the tendril hit her. She’d managed to shield Pacifica with her body so that she didn’t take as much damage.

Dipper’s eyes widened and he cried out in shock. No, no, no, that wasn’t supposed to happen. He tried to run to them but the beast knocked him back.

“We’ll have none of that. Do you take me for a fool? I’m not so easily tricked.” The creature picked up Mabel from the ground and held her up in the air. “Now what do you suppose I should do with this pathetic little human? Perhaps I should tear her limb from limb and eat her?” The creature’s grin was malicious and it laughed as it stared at Dipper.

“Oh my god. Mabel!” Pacifica was in tears and she clasped her hands over her mouth. She felt helpless because there wasn’t anything she could do to help her.

Dipper was stuck. He couldn’t openly attack the creature because he’d risk hitting Mabel if he did. “Please…please just…just let her go.” Dipper’s eyes watered as tears threatened to spill out. He couldn’t lose his sister. He wouldn’t know how to go on without her.

Dipper’s tactical mind ran through several scenarios and quickly thought about what he could do. He came to a conclusion and shot a piercing blast at the tendril holding Mabel up. She would drop to the ground but that was better than the creature having a grip on her. The blast ripped through the tendril and Mabel came crashing down to the ground, yelping when she hit. She quickly recovered and ran to Pacifica.

“Are you ok?” Pacifica asked in worry.

“I’ll live. I’ve had worse. We need to get away. Come on!” She grabbed onto Pacifica’s hand and started to drag her along in a run.

The creature’s eyes narrowed and it roared in anger. “Oh no you don’t!” A shockwave of power burst out and knocked them both off their feet.

“Focus on me!” Dipper cried as he charged up a huge blast and sent it the creature’s way. It had no choice but to focus its attention on Dipper and blocking the blast. Dipper let out blast after blast, hoping to keep it distracted long enough for the girls to get away. The had gotten back up and were making a mad dash down the road. He was going to make a break for it too after they were safe.

The creature howled in frustration. It cut through the blasts Dipper was sending its way, growing more and more frustrated. “ENOUGH!” it finally yelled. Another wave of power swept outwards and pushed Dipper back. The girls were stopped short in their running as a barrier of the creature’s design was thrown up. They had both run face first right into it.

“Ow! What the heck?” Mabel rubbed her nose.

“Shit…it’s some kind of barrier. We’re trapped Mabel!” Pacifica’s eyes were wide with panic.

Dipper wanted to tear his hair out in frustration. Nothing he was doing was working. “Damn it!” He sent more blasts at the creature but it seemed like he was barely doing anything to it.

“You can’t win.” The creature rushed towards him and knocked him out of the air.

Dipper hit the ground again and rolled this time, hoping to lessen the damage. He got back to his feet and rushed at the creature, drawing as much power from the forest as he could. Then he charged up his fists and punched the creature in its face. It recoiled back and howled in pain. Purple ooze that resembled blood came seeping through a gash Dipper had made. He finally felt like he was getting somewhere. So he continued to punch at the creature, his pace unrelenting.

The creature lashed out and hit Dipper in his side, giving him a nasty gash of his own. Dipper cried out in pain but continued to swing at the creature, undeterred by his injury. This just enraged the beast further and it wrapped a tendril around each of Dipper’s ankles and then swung him around like a rag doll, slamming him into the ground and leaving a crater.

Dipper groaned and found it hard to move. He cradled his head in his hands and tried to blink his vision back into focus. That one had really hurt. He knew his wounds would heal but the creature wasn’t waiting around for his body to patch itself up before giving him new wounds. He had just enough time to see the magic blast coming at him before it hit. He cried out in pain as the searing blast of energy burned his skin. He hadn’t had time to block. The blast left him out of commission momentarily.

“Now, back to what I was doing…” The creature sneered at Dipper and then turned to look at the two girls cowering at the edge of the barrier. Mabel was too weak to throw her own barrier back up. She knew this wasn’t going to end well. The creature picked her and Pacifica back up and squeezed them tightly. “I will not have my plans interrupted again. It brought them close to its chest and placed them up against it. Several smaller tendrils came out and bound the two girls to its chest. “Let’s see you knock them out of my grip now.” The creature’s laugh was manic.

Dipper groaned and sat up, breathing heavy and staggering. His head was swimming from the blow and he tried hard to focus. His stomach dropped when the creature spoke and he saw where the girls were. “No, please don’t hurt them. Just let them go. They’ve got nothing to do with this whole mess!”

Dipper tried to get up to his feet and he stumbled a bit before finally managing to do so. He panted as he looked up at the creature, glaring at it with an expression fill with contempt. “You let them go!” His eyes were glowing completely green and his flames had started swirling around him.

“Or what? You’ll blast me? You can’t or you’ll hit them.” The creature grinned.

Dipper raged in his place. His flames licked up around him, searing the ground and engulfing the surrounding area. Damn it, the creature had him there. He couldn’t attack. Why had he let this happen? He should have just gone with Mabel instead of training with Bill. It didn’t seem like his training was doing him a lick of good at this point. The creature was outwitting him. Dipper’s expression was resigned. He knew what he had to do to save them. It was his only option. He looked up and stared at the creature with determination.

Mabel saw the look in his eyes. She knew what that look meant. “No…no, no, no, Dipper! Don’t you dare!” She struggled against her bonds. “Don’t do it!”

Pacifica was confused but she caught on about why Mabel was yelling. She gulped and turned to him too. “Listen to her Dipper! You can’t!”

“I don’t have any other choice!” he yelled. He was breathing hard and swaying where he stood. The creature’s full attention was on him.

At that moment, in another dimension, Bill felt a chill run down his spine. Something was wrong. Something was so very, very wrong. He gasped when he felt Dipper’s surge in energy. Shit, he needed to get back like, right now. He cursed and teleported out of the dimension he was in. When he re-entered Dipper’s dimension, he looked around in panic. Dipper was nowhere near the shack. He closed his eyes and focused on their soul bond. Once he had Dipper’s position, he teleported again. The demon arrived in the area that Dipper was but he couldn’t get inside the barrier. “Dipper!” the demon yelled as he pounded on the outside of the barrier. Damn it, why did he have to show up so late. He was regretting the cross dimensional trip he’d taken. It had caused him to pick up on Dipper’s distress way too late.

The creature turned to look at Bill. “Oh, so the foul beast has made an appearance. Good! You get to watch the human fall.” The creature laughed maniacally.

“Watch him fall? Wha…” He was confused until he saw the two girls stuck to the creature’s chest. He knew what it meant now. His eyes widened in horror. He quickly looked to Dipper and shook his head no. “Don’t do it Pine Tree!” He pleaded him with his eyes.

Dipper smiled sadly at Bill. “I have to. I can’t let them be hurt.” Then he turned to the creature. “You can have me. Just let them go and promise not to hurt them.”

The creature’s sharp toothed grin widened. “Oh, how I have waited to hear those words.”

“NO!” Bill screamed from the other side of the barrier. “Dipper, you can’t! You can’t trust it!” The barrier cracked, but it didn’t break.

“Dipper! Listen to him! Don’t do it! Please don’t do it!” Mabel was in tears. She couldn’t let her brother be taken by this beast.

“What other choice do I have?!” Dipper cried out in frustration. “It’s going to kill you!”

“Then let me die! You can’t give yourself to it!” Mabel had a look of determination on her face.

Dipper shook his head and let the tears flow freely. “I can’t. I’m sorry.” He extinguished the flames around him and looked up at the creature, resigned to his fate.

“FUCKING DAMN IT!!!” Bill was wildly beating at the barrier now. He was sure he could crack it but not in enough time to stop Dipper.

“Come here,” the creature beckoned.

“Let them go first.” He narrowed his eyes at the creature.

“Very well.” The creature cast the two aside and then descended upon Dipper. The human stood there as the creature wrapped around him, engulfing him in darkness.

Dipper looked up at Bill one last time before he was completely taken over by the beast. “I’m sorry.”

Bill looked on in horror. This couldn’t be happening. Everything they’d done up until now was so that this exact thing wouldn’t happen. How could it have come to this? He was frozen in place from the shock of it.

The creature surrounded Dipper completely until you couldn’t see him anymore. Then a rush of wind spurred up around it. The creature turned into a smokey like substance and swirled around Dipper. The other’s caught glimpse of him as the creature moved around him. Dipper’s head was then thrown back and he mouth opened wide. The creature entered into his body through there until it had all disappeared into him. Dipper’s eyes turned black with red irises and veins of black snaked up the sides of his face from his hairline. They extended all down his arms too.

Once the possession was complete, the creature looked up at Bill and grinned in victory. “He’s mine now.” Its voice was now Dipper’s except there was a more demonic tone to it.

Bill was shaking with rage now. “How dare you.” His eyes were glowing red and his flames had flared up around him.

Mabel stared at her brother in horror. “Dipper…no…” Tears were flowing freely from her eyes. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

The barrier fell and the creature teleported up to Bill so that it was floating right in front of him. “What are you going to do now, Cipher. I have your precious soulmate.” It grinned wickedly at him.

“Damn you! What is your problem with me anyhow? Why did you have to do this to him?!” Bill’s fists were clenched tightly at his sides.

“Oh, you still don’t know, do you?” The creature’s grin fell and it leveled Bill with a stern glare. “You killed my soulmate, Cipher. So now I’ve taken yours and I’m going to kill you with his hands.”

Bill frowned. “Just who are you?”

“I suppose you wouldn’t have recognized me in my twisted form. A form which you caused, by the way. It is I, Paraphet.”

Bill’s eyes widened. “The prophet?!”

“Yes, it is I.”

“When the hell did I kill your soulmate?!” Bill exclaimed.

“Centuries ago. Some time before I came to you with your prophecy. You did not see me when you committed the heinous act for I had just arrived right as you were teleporting away.”

Bill thought about that for a moment. “Wait…so that means…you set me up! You used this whole soulmate thing to get back at me! You never cared about me having my soulmate. Dipper was just a pawn in your game.”

Paraphet glared at him darkly and laughed bitterly. “Yes. That was not how it was originally going to play out though. I knew that I could not kill you on my own and I had resigned myself to having to deal with it. So when I had the vision of your soulmate, I could not help but take the opportunity. I festered for centuries, waiting for the time to come around. It twisted me into the black creature you saw before. I am no longer who I was. You did this to me, Cipher and now you will pay for what you’ve done.”

Paraphet rushed forward and grabbed Bill, spun him around and threw him towards the ground. The demon crashed into the earth with a gasp. He sat up from the rubble and looked up at Paraphet. Now he knew why she had put so much stock into Dipper. He was the only thing that could stand up to Bill and on top of that, she knew that he could never hurt his soulmate. She metaphorically had him by the balls here. It enraged Bill. He did not like anyone having the upper hand on him. But he couldn’t attack her without hurting Dipper.

The prophet sent out a wave of blasts at Bill. “This boy had no idea the power he was holding. The power coursing through him is unbelievable.” She laughed manically. “He was barely tapping into it!”

Bill could do nothing but block the blasts coming at him. He had to think. There had to be some way he could break the hold on Dipper. He threw up a shield but it was broken down by the beat-down of blasts Paraphet was sending at him. He teleported to another location but she followed, punching him when she got close enough. She’d hit him hard enough to break his nose and send him flying into the trees. He broke two of them before slamming into a third one and then falling to the ground. Splinters of wood had embedded themselves into his flesh and he coughed as he pulled himself up.

“Just give it up now. I know you won’t hurt him. You might as well accept your fate!” She threw another blast at him.

Bill managed to block it and send it flying to the side. The blast hit a tree about 100 feet away and the explosion was enough to knock Bill back down. Fuck, this wasn’t going to end well for him.

From inside of Paraphet, Dipper could see everything unfolding before him. He screamed for Bill but he knew his pleas fell on deaf ears. Bill couldn’t hear him. It was tearing him apart having to watch her hurt Bill. This was the last thing he wanted. Dipper’s very soul hurt. He couldn’t help but think that Paraphet was a monster long before she had let herself descend into madness.

Paraphet closed the distance again but Bill managed to block her punch this time. He held his arms up defensively while he was pushed back against a tree. She grabbed his wrists and seared them with Dipper’s magic. Bill let out a cry of pain and jerked himself away from her. He teleported away again. Damn it, this woman wasn’t giving him any time to think. She was on him again before he could blink and hit him with a blast that burned the right side of his face. He stood there panting, gripping his face in pain. Bill wasn’t used to having to be on the defense. Nothing had ever been able to rival his power before. This was a whole new territory for him. His spars with Dipper had felt nothing like this. He knew where he stood with Dipper though and he couldn’t contend for Paraphet’s erratic behavior. She had intent to kill him where as Dipper did not. It was the key difference here.

Bill looked around wildly. He had to get out of here. Maybe he could grab the girls and teleport away to safety. It’d give him some time to think. He spotted Mabel and Pacifica further down the road. They’d had the sense to get as far away as they could while still being able to see. He was about to go to them when he heard Paraphet speak.

Paraphet hovered in the air over Bill and raised her arms. She brought up a barrier to keep Bill in. “Now you can’t escape me at all. I know that you know this is a losing battle. You’re probably thinking of running and collecting your thoughts. But I won’t let you. I know that given time to think, you will find a way to outwit me. You are a master of the mind after all.” She sneered at him.

Bill cursed her under his breath. He could break her barrier but he was fairly certain that he wouldn’t be able to break one of Dipper’s. Not when he was linked to the entire forest. “Just what are you going to get out of this? So you kill me. Then what? You’ve wasted your life away to exact your revenge on me but it won’t satisfy you.”

Paraphet scoffed and laughed at Bill. She had a crazed look in her eye. “Are you really lecturing me about revenge? You? That’s rich.” She threw another blast down at him.

He blocked it and sent it flying away. “No, but I know a thing or two about revenge. You never get what you want. You want more and more and more and soon there will be nothing left of you. You’re going to attempt to kill me and then you’re going to destroy this dimension and probably others. Doesn’t that go against that stupid code you prophets have?”

“You’re trying to appeal to a side of me that died a long time ago. I’ve been disowned by them. I can no longer go back.” She glared at him. “Enough talk. It’s time to end your wretched existence.” She rushed towards him again.

Damn, Bill had been hoping that might buy him some time but it seemed like she was too far gone to care anymore. He flew backwards, hoping to get away from her and put some distance between them. It didn’t work. Dipper’s body was fast and she was on him in an instant. She threw several punches at him again, this time lacing them with magical power. Bill blocked most but one managed to clip his chin causing his head to whip to the side. He wasn’t given time to recover as she punched him again, in the gut this time. Bill doubled over and stumbled backwards.

Dipper was crying form inside the other being. All he could do is helplessly watch Bill be beaten to a bloody pulp. The demon looked horrible. Half of his face was seared, blood was running down his chin, his clothes were torn and his arms and legs bloodied from the trees. It pained Dipper deeply.

Bill blindly threw a punch at Paraphet. The blow to his chin had left him disoriented. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards her, landing a solid magic fueled punch onto Bill’s face. Bill cried out and swayed to the side. She caught him by his throat and lifted them both into the air. Bill helplessly grasped at her hand on her throat as he gasped for air.

“I honestly expected this to be a lot harder. I suppose you really are smitten with this one. It’s almost too easy.” She squeezed his throat for emphasis.

Bill stared at his soulmate’s face. He couldn’t stand the fact that it had been twisted into something else by this vile creature. He missed Dipper’s vibrant blue eyes. He missed the fire in them when he challenged Bill.

“Please…” Bill rasped out. “Dipper….Dipper, I know you’re still in there. Fight this bitch. You have to.”

Paraphet’s face twisted in rage. She backhanded Bill with her free hand, sending blood splattering out of his mouth. “You can’t reach him. Don’t even bother trying.”

Dipper was wracked with sobs. He just wanted her to leave Bill alone. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go. He didn’t even care at this point if Bill hurt his body or not. He just wanted him to stop getting hurt.

Bill spat some blood out and turned back to Paraphet. “Dipper…I..” he gasped for breath. “Dipper I know you can hear me. Fight it!”

Paraphet seared Bill’s throat with magic. “Enough!” She materialized a blade made of magic and impaled Bill with it.

Bill hung there helplessly, gasping for breath and holding one hand over the wound he’d just received. He was bleeding out and starting to fade. “Dipper…I…I need you…”

Dipper cried out from within Paraphet. He couldn’t take this anymore. Rage was beginning to fill him. He couldn’t sit here idly while the love of his life was beaten to death. He beat against the barrier inside that he was stuck in. It started to waver.

This only enraged Paraphet. “What?! You can’t be capable of that!” she screamed at Dipper in her.

It gave Bill a tiny sliver of hope. He grinned ever so slightly, the best he could with his face so messed up. “Dipper isn’t an ordinary human.”

“Shut up!” She raged. She started to repeatedly hit Bill in his chest. She struck his face again and tightened her grip on his throat. “You will die!”

That was the last straw. Dipper’s inner fire tore through the barrier and his being spread back out into his body. Paraphet screamed and ended up dropping Bill as her hands flew to her head. “How are you doing this! It should not be possible!”

Dipper pushed against her more and more. His only thought was that she need to go. Paraphet panicked and was trying to push back, but Dipper’s will overpowered hers. His essence shined so bright that it consumed her. She screamed as she was pushed out of control and then burned up into nothingness by Dipper’s power alone. His body had shined so bright that it almost outshined the sunlight. It was blinding to look at.

Bill smiled up at Dipper as he fell to the ground. He knew his Pine Tree could break free. He hit the ground with a thud and almost blacked out.

From some distance away, Mabel watched it all unfold. She let out a breath of relief when she saw that Dipper had broken through. “He’s back, Paz. I didn’t lose him after all.” She was crying and hugged her friend like a lifeline.

Dipper returned to his normal state and was left panting. He blinked in surprise and lifted his hands to look at them. He had control again. His body was his own and he couldn’t be happier. But the fact that his hands were stained red with blood brought him crashing back to reality. Shit! Bill. He looked down at the demon on the ground. “Bill!” He rushed down to him and kneeled next to him. He put his hands out and was hesitant to touch him. He didn’t want to hurt him further. There were tears in his eyes. “Bill…I’m so sorry.”

Bill coughed at looked up at him, cracking a tiny smile. He reached his hand up and stroked Dipper’s cheek. “I knew that big brain of yours would come through.” He laughed and immediately regretted it. His injuries protested the action. “Oh, you can stop looking at me like that, Pine Tree. I’m not going to die. I just have to take some time to recuperate.  I am immortal after all. Besides, Mabel over there should be able to patch me up. She’s got healing type magic. I can sense it.”

Dipper looked over at Mabel, who was running towards them. She barreled into Dipper, almost knocking him over with her hug. “I’m so glad you’re ok! I thought I’d lost you!” She sobbed into his shoulder. Pacifica had followed Mabel and stood to the side. She smiled at Dipper too. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

Dipper hugged his sister back tightly. “I’m glad I’m back too.”

Mabel pulled back and then glared at Dipper before whacking him upside the head. “Don’t you ever pull a dumb stunt like that again! I don’t care if I’m dying! It’s better than you being taken over.” She huffed and crossed her arms.

Dipper rubbed his head and laughed. “Alright, geez. You don’t have to beat me up about it.” Dipper frowned. “Speaking of beat up…do you think you can heal Bill? He says you’ve got healing type magic and I saw you use that protective barrier earlier.”

“Um…sure? I guess I could give it a shot.” She looked down at Bill. “Cheese and crackers, how are you even still alive?”

“It takes more that Dipper here to take me out.” Bill smirked. Dipper was not amused.

“Right. Whelp, here it goes.” She held her hands over the wound in his torso. Mabel concentrated on healing him and her hands glowed a soft pink before spreading to the wound. It closed up nicely. She gasped in surprise. “Wow! I really can heal! Imagine that!” She looked at her hands in disbelief.

Bill grinned at her. “You’re a natural. It took your brother weeks to figure out how to use his. He still thinks too much with that big dumb head of his.”

“Oh, har, har. Don’t make me leave you here.” Dipper crossed his arms, unamused. Bill just grinned at him.

Mabel laughed softly. “I don’t think I can do much more than that though. I’m still pretty drained from earlier.” She looked at Bill apologetically.

“It’s fine. You’ve removed the eminent threat. I’ll live. My body can do the rest.” He gave her a thumbs up and shut his eyes.

Mabel looked up at her brother. “So…it’s finally over then? The creature is gone?”

Dipper nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s finally over.” He smiled.

Dipper glanced down at Bill and then looked out at the forest. He felt a wave of happiness course through him. He could finally go back and Bill was going to be ok. Sure, there were some things he still needed to sort out but he knew that as long as he had Bill and his sister by his side, he could take on anything. For the first time since he’d found out, he felt like being the Keeper of the Forest wasn’t such a bad thing.

****

** End **

**A pic of one of the scenes that I just had to draw out.**


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